Harvest Moon TV! Season 3: Save The Homeland
by SBester
Summary: The funniest HM fanfic series is back with another 15 episodes, this time focusing on the ps2 game and its odd departure from the previous games! SBester has returned!
1. Episode I

**_EPISODE I- _PILOT**

_**Intro**_

General Willy was a well known army hero who had returned to his little home in 'Mineral Town' after graciously retiring from the guard. It was on this particular day, however, that he decided to head on over to a neighboring town known as simply "The Village" and purchase a few tools for his farm.

"Ronald's Supermarket, hmm?" he examined the big sign at the front of the shop. "I don't remember this ever being here. My, how this town has changed over the years."

"Hello," a big, gray haired man at the counter greeted as Willy entered the store. "Can I help you with anything particular today, sir?"

"Yes, I am interested in buying some tools for my farm,"

"You've come to the right place, my friend," the store owner smiled. "My name is Ronald, and this is the best damned shop in the world! We have the greatest selection of food, tools, entertainment, and everything else you may need all made by the top selling makers on the continent, and for the lowest prices you've ever seen!"

"Wonderful!" Willy smiled widely, taking a gander around the room and noticing it seemed completely empty except for the large counter between himself and Ronald. "So… where are they?"

"Across the street at Louis' Tool Shop." Ronald grinned.

"What? But I thought you said that…"

"Have a nice day!" Ronald stretched his mouth even wider. Willy parted with the man, annoyed at the minor setback. He entered Louis' Tool Shop and was given a similar greeting by Louis, a young four-eyed geek wearing the thickest pair of glasses Willy had ever seen.

"I was told you sell a wide selection high quality bran name tools for low prices," Willy put on his business face.

"Sure, only the best!" Louis' pride shone through his straight posture.

Taking another eye roll around the room, Willy once again noticed that it was indeed empty as the last shop, "Can I see them?"

"Certainly," Louis humbly bent behind his counter and fumbled around for a moment before peering back over the desk and slamming a large object on top. "This is the super sickle, I made it myself one day when I got bored. It's like a sprinkler system in a can, but you still get to risk throwing out your back and all that fun stuff!"

"…Hmm, well as fun as that sounds, I own a sprinkler system already. What else other sorts of tools do you have?"

"Farm tools? That'd be it." Louis blinked.

"But," Willy began to panic. "You said you had a wide selection!"

"Well you never specified that you wanted farming supplies only,"

"And only the top selling brand names!"

"Louis Tools IS a top selling brand of tools, no one ever buys any other kind in this town," Louis blushed at his own compliments.

"That's because you don't even sell any other kind! You're running a monopoly here!" Willy was outraged. "Is there anything else you could sell me that may be useful on a farm? I walked for so long to get here and it would be just horrible if I had to go home empty handed."

"Well, lucky for you, I just so happen to be an inventor!" Louis announced. "But the only thing that may be of use on your farm is my new Guillotine Axe 55. Unfortunately, I haven't worked all of the kinks out yet… it might be a little bit dangerous. But if used with caution, I'm sure you'll find it very handy!" he brought a large hand axe out from behind the desk to show his customer.

"Hmm, well I wouldn't want the grandsons to have an accident, but I suppose if I kept it in a safe place it would be okay. I'll take it," Willy was finally satisfied.

"Great! That'll be 40,000 dollars, please."

"WHAT!?!"

_**Act 1**_

Jack III arrived on his late grandfather's farm in "The Village" late on the afternoon of the first day of Spring. He was a happy young 21 year old man, named after his great grandfather Jack II who had moved his great legacy of farming from Mineral Town to this one many years ago to escape his sister Jill. Jack III was a kind, gentle soul who was always willing to help when it was needed and always seemed to find the good in all people. Jack III only had one major setback in his life, and being new in such a strange little town, it was bound to cause him at least a little bit of confusion; Jack III was deaf.

Now this is not to say that he did not live a wonderful and full life the way one should, for he had everything he needed while growing up with his parents in the city. It is simply just a known fact that when one oblivious outsider somehow finds himself in the middle of a town filled with oblivious morons that some things are bound to go terribly wrong.

Jack III's mission today was to go to the farm and take back with him some of his grandfather Tony's possessions from the farm; he had died suddenly on the weekend of an unknown illness. It was while Jack III was sorting through some tools in the field when he saw three bright little rodents scamper by off in the distance.

Upon noticing one another, the small creatures decided that the young man looked harmless enough that he could be approached. As they came into full view, Jack III became excited to realize that these 'creatures' were none other than Harvest Sprites, or 'elves' as he had thought. Not being able to say anything, he picked them up in his arms one by one and gave them each a gigantic, almost life-threatening hug.

"Stop it!" the one dressed in red barked in a high pitched voice at Jack III, who smiled stupidly and took the comment to be a greeting. "You can't be so rough with us! We're not as big and strong as Tony was,"

Jack III knew instantly that this little one dressed in red was the leader.

"My name is Nic," he continued on. "This here is Nac," he pointed to the runt in the group, dressed in blue. "And that there is our little brother, Flak," he then pointed to an obese sprite dressed in yellow as they waved in unison. Jack III understood this, and smiled as he waved back at them. "We're the harvest sprites, and we have a huge favor to ask of you."

Jack III stared blankly at him, knowing full well that the little one was trying to tell him something important, but he did not know what. Therefore, he did not care. Jack III walked away.

"Hey!" Nic cried in outrage as the sprites ran after him. "We need you to stay here and look after the farm! The town is in trouble and the Harvest Goddess needs to talk with you, please listen!"

Jack III turned to the little ones and realized they were not going to give up. _I like you too, _he smiled at them again and decided to follow them.

The troop led their new friend across the village to a forest with a small pond at the far end and stopped.

"Now you need to throw an offering into the lake and the Harvest Goddess will appear!" Nic explained with majestic wisdom.

Jack III stared in a daze at the little fellow.

"Go on, throw something… y'know, throw?" Nic was growing frustrated with the young man. "Pick up a flower, and throw it into the pond!" Nic moved his arms to mime the act of throwing something towards the waters, trying to make Jack III feel stupd for not understanding him sooner.

_Oh, okay, _Jack III slapped himself in the side of the head in realization. Taking a step forward, he bent forward, picked poor little Nic up from the ground and hurled him like a soccer ball hard into the water. He was quite proud of himself as the two dwarfs beside him stared into the water in fright.

Alas, out from the small pond a whirling of water arose from the depths and a beautiful goddess appeared from the within the hurricane. Jack III did not understand how this could have happened, but he was quite startled by this and decided to throw Nac in the water as well to make her go away.

"Ahhhhhhh!" the smallest one screamed.

_ Nic, Nac, stop bothering the poor man! Honestly, good help is so hard to find these days! _the Harvest Goddess brushed her long purple locks back elegantly. _ So you are the descendent of our savior, Tony. You have much to live up to, young one. _

Realizing how perfectly gorgeous this woman was, Jack III forgot all about his fears and stared like a moron into her enticing red eyes. _Pretty…_

_ Successor of Jack the first, the coward Indabox, the noble Jack the second, the brave Tony, and whoever the hell your father is… lazy city slicker… the village is in trouble! In exactly one year, this town is going to be demolished and made into a large fair… the hope of the town and its people, and even myself, all depends on you. Please, find some way to save the town, time is running out! _she held out her arm to him which the boy perceived as an act of longing.

Caught in the trance of her unbelievable beauty, Jack III opened his mouth wide with a quivering tongue and moved slowly forward into her heavenly embrace as his eyes began to shut and give in to passion.

Whence the goddess realized what was happening, she shied back slowly and slapped him hard on the cheek as he slipped forward into the pond below.

_I think I missed…_ Jack III coughed the water out of his lungs as the three sprites attempted to lift him out of the goddess' abode.

_ Take him back to the farm, Nac, Flak. I must consult with Nic for a moment, something has just come to my attention. _the goddess ordered.

Jack III made panicking tongue gestures to the Harvest Goddess as the two sprites grabbed him by a hand each and pulled furiously in the opposite direction.

"What is wrong, great one?" Nic asked anxiously.

_ It seems that we have a problem with this boy… _

"Yes… He is an idiot." Nic concluded.

_ Mmm, not quite. _the goddess bit her lower lip. _ He is what we would call, hearing impaired, or deaf. _

"Wh…what?! Are you sure? He seemed like he could hear…" Nic trailed off, not wanting to believe he could have overlooked something so obvious.

_ I am positive. Precautions need to be taken to ensure that he learns of his mission and understands it completely. I need YOU to keep an eye on him and keep him on track. _

"Can't we just get someone else? Someone who CAN understand?"

_ There is no one else, Nic. This is the one who was sent to us, and we must honor or dear friend, Tony, by enlisting the help of his grandson. No questions asked. Find a way, Nic. Find a way to save this town before one year's time is up, or all is lost. _

"There HAS to be another option, your ladyship!" Nic whined.

_ There is. Death. _

"On my way!" Nic darted off towards the farm.

_**Act 2**_

"Someone's coming! Run!" Nac squealed as he and his fat brother scrambled into the bushes along the path they had been leading. Jack III was startled by their sudden panic and stood at his guard, ready for whatever may come his way.

It was then that an elderly figure appeared along the path, it was the owner of the pub just down the way. At 62 years old, he was the wisest of the people in the small village.

"Hello, young fellow," he extended his hand warmly to Jack III. "My name is Wallace, you must be…"

BAM!

Jack III punched Wallace square in the face, knocking the old man to the ground with a thump.

_That'll teach you to scare my friends! _Jack III frowned down at the dazed old man, not yet fully aware of what had happened to him.

"What happened!?" Nic appeared from behind his brothers.

"The new guy is bonding with the locals, it would seem," Flak scratched his head.

"Imbeciles! We can't have him mashing with the townspeople! He's the one who has to save them!" Nic yelled.

"Well then tell him not to," Nac suggested shyly.

"We can't! We can't tell him anything, not anymore. We need to show him!" Nic grabbed them and brought them out from the cover of the bushes.

"Show him?" Flak was confused.

Jack III stared down at this little buddies, proud of what he had done to save them.

"He's deaf! He can't hear us! All this time we thought he was just dense, he really just couldn't hear what we were telling him," Nic explained. Everything finally clicked for the sprites now. Nice stepped forward to engage Jack III in communication. He pointed up to Jack III and made sure Jack III responded by pointing a finger at himself.

Nic then moved his arms outward and inward, outward and inward, as he shook his head from side to side, "Don't…"

Then Nic walked closer to the old man who was still lying on the ground dizzily and looking awkwardly at the little creatures before him. Nice then punched the helpless old fool in the forehead, knocking him out completely.

Jack III understood this completely, _I shouldn't punch people because I might hurt my wrist… I should kick them instead! _He nodded in approval of Nic's suggestion and began mercilessly kicking poor elderly Wallace in all the sensitive areas.

Jack III was having too much fun to notice his little friends waving at him to stop, and their screams of panic failed to pass through his ears, as everything did.

"The horror, the horror!"

Jack III decided that it was too late to head back home now, and that he would be forced to sleep his in grandfather's farm that night. The sprites then took it upon themselves to ensure that he would not find his way home any time soon by stripping his car down to nothing during the night.

Needless to say, Jack III was not very pleased to find his vehicle in pieces in the morning, but figured it was probably that old bastard he had beaten the day before out for his revenge.

He was stuck in 'The Village' now with no way home, and no clue why he was there. The situation seemed hopeless… for everyone.

_**Conclusion**_

The young tradesman's apprentice, Joe, was out for a stroll the next morning when he came across a headless scarecrow, elegantly leaning on a tree.

"Where did you come from? This is an odd place for you to be. Shouldn't you be out in the middle of a field protecting crops?" Joes playfully laughed.

"Whatcha up to, Joe?" Louis greeted him happily.

"Oh, nothing special. How is business?"

"Fantastic! I sold another one of my amazing Guillotine Axe 56s yesterday! Those babies are pretty costly these days, y'know?"

"I thought it was called the Guillotine Axe 53?" Joe raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, no. The number is just the count of how many defects I find in them, so I'm up to 56. I'm sure the good Army General won't mind too much though," Louis was confident in his invention.

"Ah, I woulda thought that number would decrease rather than increase," Joe laughed.

"It will, these things take time!" Louis snapped. "I just found another little problem with it this morning, at least I'm honest about it."

Joe figured it was time to change the subject.

"So I was thinking," Joe said. "Maybe if I were to make a head for this scarecrow my boss would let me sell it. What do you think?"

"I'm gonna be honest with ya, Joe. I don't think it would sell." Louis broke the harsh news mercilessly.

"Re…really? How come?" Joe was hurt by this.

Louis nervously scratched his head, "Because that's not a scarecrow at all; that is the good general Willy."

_Spring 1st_

_I met Tony's grandson today, he is deaf… which doesn't help us much because somehow he is destined to save the town from being demolished. We made sure he's here to stay for a while, but now we need to hurry and get him to understand what he is supposed to do. Most likely, me and my brothers will have to do all the work on our own… but that's just the way things work around here. Oy…_

_Nic_

**THE END**

(Greetings, HMTV fans, new and old alike! As you may have noticed, I changed the format of the storytelling a little bit for this season. The new series of 15 episodes will basically just poke fun at the ps2 game itself and all of its many limitations, like the limited amount of tools as explored in this episode. I will also focus on the other characters more than I did in the last season, for I feel it will work out for the best in the end. Hope you enjoyed, and stay tuned for more HMTV season 3!)


	2. Episode II

**_EPISODE II- _THE BRAIN STORM**

_**Intro**_

On a bright sunshiny, disgustingly hot day, two men went for a stroll around 'The Village'.

"I mean no disrespect, but at the same time I feel that it is necessary for you to understand why we have decided to go ahead with the building of the resort…" Mr. Woods explained.

"Well, I'm against it," Parsley, the town's young walking botanist voiced his opinion.

"Yes, I understand that. But sir, you have no political power over the town, therefore, you may not stand alone against this matter," Woods was a business man, and knew the workings of politics and economics very well.

"Political?" Parsley was confused by this.

"Uh, yes. Like a town mayor, or a party in control of the management of the town… are you on the board?"

"Yes, I am a little on the bored side."

"Oh you a… what? No, no, no! The board of town leaders," Mr. Woods cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh, yes. They bore me as well."

"Parsley…" Mr. Woods began.

"They bore all of the townspeople, actually," Parsley went on. "We decided many years ago not to have them anymore."

"What!?! You mean you have no one guiding the townspeople? Plotting economic growth? Division of wealth and such? How do you people survive?! What about healthcare and such? Who takes care of all that!?" Mr. Woods was stunned by the news.

"Well, 'they' used to. But they were a little pushy, so I guess no one does now."

"What happened to them?"

"They died. Harvest sprites don't live very long, you know," Parsley blinked stupidly.

"…Look, botanist, without some political faction representing the town, there's no way in hell you can ever manage to save your village. No one has even opposed us on the matter, it's like no one here even bothers to care!" Mr. Woods scratched his head. "Perhaps you would benefit from forming one yourself, that is all I can offer for you at the present. Otherwise, your town is soon to be history."

"No, I'm too busy," Parsley walked away without due farewell.

"What a strange man… no wonder this town is headed for the shitter," Woods began his journey back to his home town while the three 1 ½ foot tall harvest sprites discussed the conversation they had just eavesdropped upon from their forest cover.

"So basically, the only reason that no one has stood up to those evil corporate bastards is because no one has even bothered to try…" Nic sank to the ground furiously.

"These people are dumb," Nac agreed.

"Why don't we get them to start a government?" Flak suggested.

"…Because these people are dumb," Nic shot him a bitter look. "And obviously Jack can't do it, he's deaf!"

"We need more options!" Nac complained.

"Right," Nic agreed. "A government is not going to work, it would take too long to organize one ourselves. It's time we investigated into other possible solutions, and make sure that Jack doesn't leave town until we find a way."

"He doesn't even know anyone in town yet…" Flak whined.

"Hmm, you're right. Let's show him around the village today, perhaps helping him to make new friends will help our situation," the three sprites were then off to Jack III's farm to summon their hero.

_**Act 1**_

Jack III became extremely frustrated with the broken down truck. It had been 2 days since it broke down and left him stranded in the little village with no way of telling informing his loved ones. That's when the idea struck him! He may not have been able to talk with his family members, but he could at least let them know he was safe.

Giving his broken truck one final kick of hatred, he ran quickly inside his grandfather's farmhouse and looked around for a phone. _No need to be tidy,_ he thought to himself. It wasn't his farm, after all.

_Aha! _Jack III's mind exploded with thoughts of happiness. After making sure the phone was plugged in, he dialed his parents' home number.

"Hello?" came the answer, one that Jack III unfortunately had no way of hearing. "Hello? Who is this?" it was his mother on the line.

Assuming that someone had picked up, Jack III began tapping the buttons on the phone in morse code.

Beep, Beep, Beeeep, Beeeep,

"Hello? Is there someone there? Do you have the wrong number?" she asked into the phone.

Beep, Beeeep!

"Who is this?" she yelled louder, trying to get the attention of the person who'd called her.

Something didn't feel right to Jack III, perhaps his mother or father were getting annoyed by the phone dials. He stopped pressing the numbers and instead began tapping with his fingertips on the bottom part of the phone.

TAP! TAP TAP! TAP TAP TAP TAP!

"I'm going to hang up now!" his mother warned.

Tap!

"Damned prank phonecallers!" she cut him off.

Tap, Tap, Tap!

_That oughta do it, _Jack III smiled to himself and hung up. He felt better knowing that his parents didn't have to worry about him any longer. Now all he had to do was sit in wait while someone came to pick him up. Now seemed like the perfect time to sit back, relax, and pick his nose a bit.

Knock, Knock, the ineffective sound came from the farmhouse door. Jack III went about his business, not realizing that someone had come to see him.

"Excuse me," a pink haired beauty poked her head inside the farmhouse, it was then that Jack III immediately felt her eyes upon him and he stopped what he was doing to face her. "Hi," she said, thankful that she had his attention.

_Oooh, beautiful, _Jack III gazed upon her in awe.

"My name is Lyla and I manage the flower shop in town," she smiled sweetly. "I was just wondering if I could borrow a cup of sugar? I seemed to have run out and I was going to see if Tony had some. I didn't expect to see anyone here, are you his grandson?"

Jack III nodded as he does when gorgeous girls bite their bottom lips, it was a strange reflex of his.

"Ah, so it's fine if I take some sugar?"

Jack III smiled at her stupidly, and she took that as a 'yes'.

"Wonderful! Where is it?" she turned to the cupboards and immediately started rummaging through them. Jack III stepped towards her in a daze and unknowingly became tied up in the phone cords, causing him to trip and fall with a loud crash to the floor.

"Oh! Are you alright?" Lyla rushed to his aid, which was on the other side of the counter.

The three sprites had happened to be listening from outside at this point, afraid that Jack III would make an ass out of himself in front of one of the most eligible bachelorettes in town.

"Nac," Nic whispered behind the doorway. "Quick, we can't be seen!"

Nack nodded and scurried through the doorway, using the handlebars on the low pantries to swing himself up on top of the counter while Lyla helped Jack III recover from his fall.

"Oh, you poor soul," she cocked his head up and laid it to rest on her arm. Jack III blinked the stars away from his vision and his eyes became fixated on hers.

Nac jumped up on the toaster and leaped to a high cupboard's handle. Using his legs he kicked from the wall so that it would open small enough for him to squeeze instead and retrieve the sugar.

"I think you'll be okay, thankfully," Lyla took Jack III's smile as evidence of his recovery. She began to stand up, pulling Jack III by the arm as she did…

Nac was out of time, only one thing to do… jump!

Jump he did. From the high cupboard he lunged forward, not having anywhere soft to land and knowing fullwell that he needed to land on his back, for the sugar would make too loud a noise if it were to hit the floor first.

Thump.

"What was that?" Lyla looked around the room. Jack III took that moment to give her a hug for helping him in such a time of need. "Oh," she was surprised.

Nic ran quickly to the cover of the counter and grabbed the bag of sugar from his unmoving, injured brother. "Get up, you nitwit!" he whispered in annoyance. Nac stared wide-eyed towards the ceiling, unable to move from his sprawled position upon the floor.

"My, you are affectionate, aren't you?" Lyla laughed as she left Jack's needy embrace and walked back to the cupboards, not noticing Nic and Nac but stepping on Nac's tiny hand as she walked. "No, where do you keep the sugar?" she rummaged and raided.

Nic zoomed out of sight with the bag of sugar and handed it to Jack III who was just noticing their presence now. Jack III accepted the bag with a smile and patted Nic on the head before proceeding towards the young woman.

"Oh, you have it!" she turned to face him and graciously held out her hands. It was then that she stepped on Nac again without notice.

"Thank you so much! What was your name again?"

He had not told her, of course.

There was no time to think now, the jig was almost up! In a spur of the moment move, fat Flak ran from the entranceway to his very hurt brother, still sprawled on the floor and flopped with all his weight on the tiny sprite's stomach:

"Hhhhh…Jack the third!" came the deep, injured yelp from Nac's vocal cords.

"Ah, nice to meet you," Lyla shook Jack III's hand. "Thanks again!"

_**Act 2**_

"Good thinking, Flak, I thought we were sunk!" Nac patted his big, younger brother on the back when it was all over.

"Thanks!" Flak smiled to himself.

Nac crawled helplessly out of the farmhouse at that moment.

"Oh, yeah… and you did an okay job too, Nac… I guess," Nic turned and walked to where Jack III was standing. "You! Follow me!" he waved the tall young man in the opposite direction.

The 3 sprites and Jack III walked through the town village happily while they tried to think of a plan on how to save the town.

"I thought we were gonna introduce Jack to the townspeople," Flak voiced.

"That was BEFORE our close call with Lyla," Nic answered. "From now on, we'll just do the meetings one step at a time, I'd hate to live through that more than once a day!"

"You're telling me," Nac's remark was ignored.

"Wait… wasn't there going to be a meeting with the state governor about building that new site here?" Nic snapped his fingers. "Suppose Jack went to it to oppose them!"

"Uh… Jack is deaf. How is he gonna pull that off?" Flak wondered.

"We're going to have to go with him and make sure that our views are heard!" Nic tightened his knuckles.

"Guys?" Nac waved his arms about. "Where'd Jack go?"

"Oh, no!" they all went ballistic.

They searched high and low in all areas of the town, but hours later they still could not find Jack III.

"Wait, I think I hear something!" Nac squealed. It was the sound of Woody, the village elder. He sounded as though he was having a conversation with himself, and that could only mean one thing… Jack III was with him!

The harvest sprites ran as fast as they could to catch up with them. From their normal hideaway in the bushes along the path, they snuck closer to hear what was being said.

"You see, m'boy, they want to tear us down. And I, being the only one who cares enough to take a stand must go to the board meeting with the officials and try and stop them from destroying this village," Woody put his arm around Jack III's shoulder.

This act made Jack III very uncomfortable, _I don't know what he's trying to tell me, but actions speak much louder than words and I'm a little scared right now._

"Yay! Woody is going to save the town!" the harvest sprites rejoiced in secret.

"Let's just keep this between you and me, though. Hmm?" Woody whispered to Jack III. "I wouldn't want to worry my granddaughter Gwen. If word gets out to her that she and her girlfriends could soon be out of a home, I don't know what I would do," the elderly man said in all seriousness. "So? We agree to keep quiet about this?"

Jack III nodded slightly, afraid of what had just been said.

"Great, I knew I could trust a family member of Tony's!" Woody slapped Jack III playfully on the bottom, a truly fatal error on his part.

"HIYA!" one of the few mastered words Jack III could mutter shook the trees as he grabbed the old man's hand and flung him into a winding summersault of doom. Now, Woody, being very old, died upon impact on the ground.

_No one touches my ass but ME! _Jack III stared down at him angrily.

"…Oh, crap," the sprites looked on in horror.

_**Conclusion**_

The funeral service was held the next day in the middle of the town. Only the sane townspeople showed up, so very few visitors to say the least.

"He was a kind old soul," Bob, the owner of the Brownie Ranch said to the crowd. "He lived a good life, though it had its ups and downs."

Jack III sat amongst the young women, wondering why everyone had gathered here on this day looking so sad. _Is this man's poetry really that inspiring?_

Mr. Woods showed up at that moment and sat amongst them to listen to the sad tale of Woody's life. It was a long service, but when it was over, Mr. Woods stood up and demanded the attention of the people.

"I would like to announce that on this sad day, it is important that you look towards the future of this little town. There are plans to destroy this place and make room for a resort and amusement park. So far no one has stepped forward to lead a resistance, and it is crucial to this village's survival that someone come forth and stand up to the builders once and for all! For your own sake, please!" Mr. Woods did indeed have their best interests in mind. He was a good man.

Everyone looked around at one another, someone had to stand up and fight for their homeland, but who?

Jack III yawned loudly, realizing that the service was over. He stood up and stretched, oblivious to the many eyes that fell upon him in wonder.

"You," Mr. Woods pointed at Jack III, who simply did not hear him. The young women were astonished by the way their brave hero appeared out of nowhere and puffed his chest outward in a courageous fashion, no fears, no cares, no giving up! "It seems we have found a brave soul in this place afterall," Mr. Woods smiled as the small crowd began to cheer for Tony's grandson.

Jack III did not see them cheer as he brushed the sleep out of his eyes. Bob walked over and patted him on the back, surprising him, "What's yer name, feller?"

Lyla stood up happily, "His name is Jack! And he's going to save the homeland!"

They all cheered again, and Jack III smiled wide upon realizing that they all seemed quite amused with him.

From the cover of the bushes, the three harvest sprites watched in terror.

"Somehow, it seems like this guy is making our mission tougher, rather than helping us," Nic complained bitterly.

"They like him!" Flak rejoiced tearfully. "They really, really like him!"

_Spring the 4th,_

_We did a lot of thinking over the past couple of days. In the end, none of it really mattered. I'm bruised and beaten, the town elder is dead, and now we have to get Jack to that meeting next week! What else could go wrong?!_

…_What on earth is Jack doing to that phone?_

**THE END**

(Hope you enjoyed, soon I'll get to the ACTUAL nine possible endings for this game, but for now its fun exploring the 4 main characters and establishing their relationship with each other. You don't need me to tell you what'll happen next time… it's pretty obvious. Thanks for the reviews!)


	3. Episode III

_**Episode Three: **_**Silent Night**

Intro 

"We can't let him stand up to those builders alone! This is our town and it is our responsibility!" 16 year old Katie voiced at the picnic amongst the village girls. Of all the inhabitants of the village, these were the smartest and most caring.

"Oooo, but what if he doesn't need any help at the meeting tonight?" the ditzy pink haired flower girl, Lyla, wheezed in her annoying way.

"That don' matta," the tomboyish blond of the group, Gwen, shot back. "Dis guy's standin' alone for a town he's neva even lived in. It's ahr respansability, Katie's right."

"I think the town is as good as gone, might as well embrace the future," said the rich girl, Dia. Her short black hair was straighter than a needle, and her eyes as dull as the clouds.

"No," shy Gina peeped. This girl never stood out in a crowd with her long baby blue locks and thick glasses.

"OoooOOoo," Lyla was about to say something.

"Fine, obviously Dia's out. But we're all in, right girls?" Katie looked around the circle of friends who had joined together on this bright sunshiny day in the goddess' abode.

"Yes," Gina quipped.

"Damn straight," Gwen smirked.

"OooOoooOOOOOooo, but…"

"Good to hear," Katie smiled. "Let's go tell the new guy we're gonna go with him for support tonight, and then we can all put our heads together to come up with some sort of government plan."

"I like yuh thankin'," Gwen launched upwards, ready to go. "Just don't be goin' thankin' yuh hava shat at winnin' the chum's hahrt."

"And why not!?" Katie was instantly angry at this remark.

"You're just a child," Dia blinked.

"I am not!" Katie shot back.

It was at this point that poor distressed Lyla began to pack things up, knowing that this crowd always got her too upset to ever manage contributing real words of wisdom. The debate was not an easy one to approach for her, for she could do nothing if she was forced to close down her flower shop, yet the idea of saving the town now seemed hopeless.

From the bushes, the sprites observed the argument over who would win the new farmer's heart.

"Well, that saves us the trouble of getting Jack from the farm to the meeting tonight. Thank the goddess that these girls are smart, unlike a lot of other town residents," Nic sighed in relief.

"So what will we do once he gets to the meeting?" Nac wondered.

"Maybe we should tell the girls that Jack can't hear anything," Flak suggested.

"Never tell them that!" Nic slapped his brothers in the back of their skulls. "If we did that, they'd lose all hope for sure!"

"Then how will Jack hear what is being said? Or talk?" Nac jumped up and down excitedly.

"I don't quite know…"

Act 1 

Jack III began his day with a big stretch as he stepped out of the farmhouse and into the sunlight. It was a beautiful day, he only wished he could hear the chirping of the birds just once. It was then that he saw his three tiny friends, the harvest sprites run into view. He smiled at them and waved like a lunatic.

"Hurry up, before the village girls see us!" Nic yelled at his companions as they ran over the hilltop and entered Jack III's premises.

"They'll lead him there, right?" Nac asked.

"If we play our cards right," Nic replied. The three waved hello to their friend and then scattered into the farmhouse without warning. Jack III was about to follow them when a tap on his shoulder turned his attention to the four pretty young girls beside him.

"Heya, we gals bane thankin'," Gwen half smiled coolly. "We wanna help ya with the mettin' tanite."

Jack III looked at all of them, _very, very pretty girls. _Perhaps they wanted to be friends, GOOD friends. He decided to test the waters. Smiling happily, he launched himself upon her in a tight, strong, inescapable hug of death.

"Ahk," Gwen gasped for air. "I can't breathe!" she was barely audible, only Jack III would have heard had he not been deaf. He waited a few more seconds before releasing her whence he realized she was not attempting to hit him across the face, and decided that she probably aimed to sleep with him that night. But did they all want the same thing? Perhaps the girls from this village "stuck together", so to speak.

"I told you he was really friendly!' Lyla smiled sweetly.

"I want a hug!" Katie took a step forward.

Jack III stared silently at this girl, _BEAUTIFUL!_

Just as he was about to unleash something a little more bold than a friendly hug, Gwen pushed Katie aside once more and continued talking. "So, shall we get goin'?"

Jack III was pissed off at this girl for getting in the way of the much prettier one. He grabbed Gwen's arm violently in warning, but Gwen saw this as yet another attempt to get closer to her and received his grip with one of her own.

"I guess we're off, then…" Katie lowered her head in disappointment.

Jack III was confused, this girl seemed to be pulling him in the other direction now, and the other girls seemed to be following. Perhaps girls in this town really did roll that way. ;) .

The sprites lunged into action now, running from the farmhouse from garden to garden in persuit.

"We didn't even have to do anything!" Nic rejoiced in their luck.

"Isn't the hard part coming later though?" Flak reminded him.

"Shut up, idiot!" Nic yelled.

It was a very long walk for the villagers, but the girls were happy to walk with such a handsome young man as Jack III and tell him of their lives and every little detail about themselves. They all tried to cut each other off, talking over one another and snuggling up as close as they could to the farmer on their journey. Yep, it was times like this that Jack III was happy to be deaf, for as they kept busy with their voices, he was free to 'accidentally' grab ass and such. Okay, it was a little more subtle than that, but the 21 year old clearly kept himself busy on the way.

Meanwhile, the sprites stayed hidden the entire time as nightfall was fast approaching, and in two hours the companies had arrived at the courthouse where the meeting was to take place.

"There has to be something we can do now!" Nac worried.

"Right, while they're distracted we need to sneak into the courthouse. There has to be something in there we can use to distract the businessmen from noticing Jack doesn't speak or hear," Nic led them quickly past the group of girls and Jack III while they waited to be summoned to the meeting.

The three sprites looked around the building high and low. An old typewriter sat upon a desk, but Nic thought perhaps that would be a little too obvious if Jack III started typing up his rebuttals to the businessmen during the meet.

There was a long spear behind a glass window, perhaps some kind of symbol for this foreign town. It could be used to kill the businessmen and claim victory in the name of 'the Village', but Nac thought perhaps that was too harsh.

All Flak could do was think about food, like he always did.

"Aha!" Nic shouted victoriously. "A soundboard!"

"A what?" Nac scratched his head.

"We can use it to record our replies, amplify the sound so that it sounds like Jack is talking; and all we gotta do is give Jack some gum so it looks like he is talking!" Nic snatched a pack from Flak's pocket.

"Aw…" Flak whined in disapproval.

"We need to record our voices now though, otherwise they'll hear us talking in the meeting room," Nic instructed.

"But how do we know what Jack will need to say?" Nac asked.

"We don't, which means we have to guess. And we don't have any more time to think about it, just say a bunch of random things quickly, they're being summoned to the courtroom!" Nic panicked.

"Ahh!" Nac pressed the record button quickly.

"Yes!" Flak said into the microphone.

"No!" Nic said.

"I like the village!" Nac breathed.

"F& You!" Nic blurted.

"That was uncalled for…" Flak forgot he was being recorded.

"Shut up!" Nic lashed back.

"We're out of time!" Nac shut off the recording and the sprites scurried quickly into the courtroom where the meeting was about to begin. They scampered underneath Jack III's chair, where the four village girls also sat, and the businessmen across from them.

Everything rested on this night.

Act 2 

Everything was set. Nac turned the volume on the little machine up to full blast and prepared to commence the operation.

"Oh, crap," he whispered.

"What?" Nic asked.

"Um… I don't know which answers were saved to which buttons…"

"You mean we can only randomly press buttons and hope they're the right answers?" Flak was almost in tears.

"…We are so screwed!" Nic stood motionlessly.

"Alright, welcome ladies and Mr. Uh…" the boss man sat directly across the long table from Jack III.

"His name is Jack," Katie piped up.

"Ah, yes. Now uhm, our report says that your town has no official government body or leaders. Is this true, Mr. Jack?" asked the boss man.

Nac panicked and pressed a button on the soundboard, WE'RE OUT OF TIME.

"What? But you just got here," the boss raised his eyebrow.

NO.

"No? You mean you didn't just arrive?"

YES.

"And you're out of time already…" the boss asked again.

SHUT UP.

"Now, now, Mr. Jack, I didn't mean anything by it. No need to get upset. Now, we're here to discuss the state of your village. What we're wondering is, why should we save your town?"

I LIKE THE VILLAGE! "I got one!" Nac rejoiced in a hushed voice to his brothers.

"I understand that, but the town has no governmental rule, not laws, no institutions. I'm not quite sure I even understand how these people can live in such a place without destroying each other,"

THAT WAS UNCALLED FOR.

"Oh, I don't think so, Mr. Jack. I think I'm raising quite an important issue here, and so far you haven't been able to give me an answer."

F& YOU!

"Now see here!" the boss stood up in outrage.

Jack III stared blankly at the man sitting across from him who was obviously getting quite angry with him. _Where the hell am I? Who are these people? I thought I was going to have happy time with these girls, I refuse to let it happen if these old guys intend to join in._

THAT WAS UNCALLED FOR.

"Indeed it was, sir," the boss sat down and attempted to calm himself.

WE'RE OUT OF TIME.

"That's fine with me, young man. This is just a formality really, anyways. We intend to destroy your town at the end of the year, and there's nothing you can do about it now. Have a good night, y'all."

The girls were appalled by this scoundrel's evil tactics, there was never any chance for them to convince these businessmen of changing their minds at all. Angrily, they all comfortingly grabbed a hold of Jack III and led him out of the room.

"You… you mean, there's nothing we could do?" Nac whined silently.

"I guess not, Nac…" Nic hung his head in shame.

Jack III was happy to see he was leaving the company of these men, for he did not want to share these girls with them at all. Thankful for his luck, the young man turned to the gentlemen one last time on his way out and waved goodbye with a big smile on his face.

F& YOU!

Conclusion 

The girls and Jack III were forced to stay at an INN that night in the strange big city, for it had gotten very late. Jack III was disappointed and even further confused when they left him in the lobby, thinking he had heard what room he was to go to. _Why did they split up?_

The three sprites watched from the window as their clueless friend stood confused in the small entry to the INN. It was then that Katie appeared.

"Hi, Jack. Can you come here for a moment," she signaled for him to follow her.

Jack III did so eagerly, as she led him up to her room and locked the door behind them. Immediately they embraced each other in a long passionate kiss and fell down to the bed behind Katie.

"Jack, there's something you should know. The other girls probably told you I'm only 16…" Katie stalled for a moment.

Jack III frowned, _how can she talk at a time like this? _

"But the truth is I'm even younger…" she bit her lip uneasily.

Jack III could take no more of this, _It's probably not that important._ With that, they were once again locked in a passionate embrace.

The three sprites had climbed a tree and were watching once again from another window.

"It's times like these I wish I were telepathic…" Nic squirmed in disgust.

"Why? What are they gonna do?" Nac asked innocently.

"Something they definitely shouldn't, let's leave. Now!"

Spring the 5th 

_I donnt no hao 2 spel yet. We didnnt stop the meen men frum distroeing the vilij. Jak wuz so upset that KT had 2 hug him a lot 2nit. I im sad._

_Flak_

THE END 

(many apologies, my computer thought that what would be funnier than the "almost complete" episode 3 of HMTV3 would be to erase my hard drive and everything on it. I had to take a week after that, for I dreaded having to write this entire thing again. But luckily, I think this turned out better than the original ep.3 I was writing. Anyways, I'm out of school and back on schedule for the rest of season 3… hopefully).


	4. Episode IV

_**EPISODE FOUR: **_**ON DEAF EARS**

Intro 

The homeless dog wandered around the village aimlessly, sniffing high and low in search of meat wherever it could be found. It was at this point in time that the poor little pup had found its way to the residence of Jack the third, just as he was coming out of the farmhouse.

_A puppy! _Jack III rejoiced in his mind. The dog took one look at him and ran off in a blitz of fury. The damn thing had been frightened! This pissed the farmer off quite a bit, what had he ever done to be treated in such a way? If he was going to demand respect, he was going to have to earn it. Quickly, he ran back inside and fetched 2 small bowls.

In the first bowl, Jack III put some meat inside. The second bowl was filled with water, and then they were both placed at the side of the house. When all was done, Jack III walked back inside the farm and closed the door behind him.

"Aw, he's feeding the puppy!" Nic, Nac and Flak emerged onto the scene. "What a nice guy he is afterall," Nac smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, he's a flippin' saint," Nic frowned.

"What's the matter big brother?" Flak realized Nic was not in good spirits today.

"The Harvest goddess really tore me a new one last night. After that failure we had at the meeting… I don't think she'll ever trust us again."

Nac sulked over this news, "There's nothing else we can do to save the village…"

"That's not completely true," Nic said. "We have to do our best to keep trying, we still have a little under a year to complete our task. It isn't worth giving up on."

"Look at that!" Flak took their attention away from more important matters to point to the puppy who had wonderingly snooped his way back to the little farm. "He came back!"

The puppy did not see the sprites in the distance, for he could only see the glorious food that had been put out for him in a bowl. What a spectacular phenomenon! Slowly, he crept closer and closer to the food laid out before him until at last, he was upon it. Indeed, the food tasted delicious.

_Aha! _Jack III appeared from the side of the barn holding a large net on a stick. The dog, terrified, turned to see his attacker too late, for the net had been cast around him and he was unable to break through his restraints. _You belong to me now! _Jack III rejoiced with a large smile worn across his face.

RUFF, ruff, ruff! Ruff, ruff, ruff!

"He just captured the poor thing!" Nic and his brothers were astonished.

"A new friend!" Flak cheered with joy, not understanding the seemingly cruel nature of Jack III's actions.

"Let's name him!" Nac suggested, annoying Nic now.

Ruff, ruff, ruff!

"He barks in triples! Let's call him Triple Ruff!" Flak said stupidly.

"How does Ruff cubed sound?" Nac tried.

"Hmm… what's a better way to say that…?" Flak thought long and hard.

"Ruff 3, you morons!" Nic clonked the two on the head.

"Ouch," Nac rubbed his throbbing head. "Fine, fine. Ruff 3 the first it is," Nic shot him an evil look.

Act 1 

"I see you've taken in one of the local strays," Louis mused as he had been passing by Jack III's farm. Jack III was on his knees tending to his gardens, for he figured he would be in town for a long time and it was time that he took precautions and started earning a living for himself. He was just in the middle of planting some seeds when his nosy little neighbor had appeared from nowhere and began talking, although Jack III did not hear him.

_Why do I feel like someone is watching me? _Jack III cocked an eyebrow and slowly turned to see the weird man with glasses standing behind him, watching his every move.

"I have taken one in myself, she's a real sweetheart… or was. I have a bad tendency to experiment on things, living and non. But no matter. I have a gift for you, it is a special whistle you can use to train your pup into a real prize winning canine!" Louis presented the oversized tool in his hands proudly.

Jack III studied it for a moment, not having any clue what its significance was.

"Let me show you," Louis turned to the pup, who was tied by rope to the side of the farmhouse, biting fiercely at his restraints. Putting the whistle to his lips, he blew very loudly into it, moving his finger along the side of it to play higher and lower notes in a very specific order.

Suddenly, Ruff 3 stopped what he was doing and sat patiently at attention.

"You see? It is really quite simple, just memorize these three easy tunes and your dog will obey your commands to sit, heel, and lie down!" Louis played the other two tunes as Jack III stood amazed at the sight of this strange happening.

_I want to play! _Jack III held out his hands as Louis gave him the whistle.

"If you forget the tunes, just come visit my shop," Louis smiled.

Jack III blew hard into the whistle, not knowing how to play and never hearing any of the tunes that Louis attempted to teach to him. It sounded quite awful.

"Erm, you work on that. Eventually you'll get better," Louis went on his merry little way as Jack happily blew and blew and blew.

Ruff 3 could take no more, he began barking out loud, attempting to halt his new master from annoying the air further.

_I think I got him to bark! _Jack III observed the dog's opening and closing of his long snout. Inspecting the instrument further, he realized if he covered the little holes he could play a different sound!

Meanwhile, the sprites went to once again visit the harvest goddess.

"_Ergh," _she mumbled amongst her company. _"What shall I do now?!"_

"Her greatness seems troubled…?" Nic said nervously.

"_Troubled? Of course I'm troubled! We're in the middle of a war with my sister, the Harvest goddess of Mineral Town, and I can't rely on you three to save a measily village from being demolished!!!"_

"Oh, the war, right… How's that going, by the way?" Nic asked cheekily.

"_WE'RE GETTING DESTROYED!" _she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"I'm… sorry to hear that?" Nic scrunched himself in fear.

"_What we need is to cut off her water supply. Then there would be no way for her to return to the land of the living from her vortex. I will present to you three a goddess sponge, and with it you shall go to the Goddess Pond in Mineral Town and drop it in. That will eliminate our threat, and she will no longer be able to rule the lands as she intends to do once she gets rid of me!"_

"Uhm, shouldn't we try and save the village fir…"

"_SILENCE! I have given your orders. Once she is out of the way, I can further attend to our 'situation'. Now go!"_

"Yes, ma'am!" the sprites were off in a hurry.

It was around an hour away, but the sprites soon made their way to Mineral Town and avoided drawing attention to themselves as they ran quickly for the Goddess Pond.

And just what do you think you're doing!? the Mineral Town harvest goddess appeared from the waters and frowned evilly.

The sprites were very afraid now, but Nic stepped up as a leader should and said, "We have come to destroy your way into the human world!"

Is that so? she smiled. And even when I may be the only one who can save your stupid village? 

The sprites stopped immediately.

Hahaha, that is correct. My dear sister is so cute to think she has any chance at cutting me off from this world, but in truth, she wields no real power in this world at all! I can make anything, ANYTHING happen. Except of course that my power is limited to everything outside her measily little forest in 'the village'. It's pathetic, really, how powerless she really is. 

"Is that true?" Nac cowered in fright.

Yes, indeed. Why, I could turn you all into stone right now. In fact, she snapped her fingers.

Nic and Nac turned to discover that Flak had indeed been turned to stone right before their eyes.

Now, how about we talk about this? the goddess laughed.

"What do you want?" Nic gave in.

I want you to throw this sponge back in my sister's pond. And I will spare your lives. 

Nic thought long and hard about this. The situation was hopeless.

"It seems I have no choice… but to destroy your pond!" he yelled as he tossed the sponge into the pond which immediately took effect and absorbed all the waters.

Noooooo!!!! the goddess was gone.

_**Act 2**_

Nic and Nac carried their brother of stone back to their goddess' abode where she would turn him back into a normal harvest sprite once more.

"_Hmm,"_ the goddess muffled something. _"You were very brave for doing such a thing, had the sponge not worked so quickly you could all have been turned to stone," _she restored Flak to normal with a wave of her hand.

"Aw, it was nothing, really," Nic blushed.

"_Unfortunately, she has been luckier in her placement."_

"Uh, what?"

"_I can feel her presence once more. Perhaps the good citizens of Mineral town all worked together to pull the sponge out of the water. Too bad, it seemed like a good plan. Of course the citizens here would never do such a thing for me…"_

Nic felt very betrayed by this.

"_Wait, I feel something. An emergency in the town! Quick! Go investigate now!"_

The sprites reluctantly went on their way to find out what was happening in the village, and in no time they could see what had happened. It seemed that all of the citizens had lost their crops in town, and there was no more food to be harvested.

"The evil harvest goddess must be behind this!" Nic concluded.

"What are we going to do?" Nac panicked.

"These people need our help. We need to find the monster who is behind all this. It's probably a troll of some kind," Nic frowned.

The other two sprites shook with fear.

"Let's follow the trail like only we can!" Nic led them. Harvest sprites were very good at following clues, and eventually they would find the culprit.

Meanwhile, Jack III was just waking from his nap. He had gotten quite frustrated with his whistle, for he could not hear what he was playing and the dog did not seem to be responding as he should have been. With a stretch and a yawn, he headed on outside to see the bright sun to cheer him up a little. Upon opening the door and walking outside, he noticed before him that Ruff 3 was sitting before him, seemingly very happy. The dog had chewed his way through his rope, and there behind him, were a boatload of crops that had been stolen from the neighbors.

Jack III cocked an eyebrow and bent over to look the dog in the face. _Good boy! _He patted him on the head. Perhaps the dog had watched him plant the crops all day and decided to save him some hastle.

It was then that the harvest sprites once again showed up and instantly realized what had happened.

"Those stupid tunes he's been annoying people with all day made Ruff 3 do all that bad stuff?" Nac was astonished.

"Another one of Louis' experiments, no doubt," Nic concluded. "It seems we've found the monster. Who would have thought a deaf guy with a flute would be so dangerous?"

"So should we help him hide the crops? The other farmers won't forgive him if they find out," Flak cried.

"Yes. I'm sure he's done with the flute now, since he can't even hear it. Hopefully this is the worst of what the dog has done today."

The sprites greeted Jack III and immediately the four of them moved the crops into the vacant barn where no one would look.

The two harvest goddesses would once again be forced to plot against one another, and the sprites still had no idea how they were going to save the homeland. Jack III, however, was going to be very, very rich.

_**Conclusion**_

"_So did you solve the town's problem?" _the goddess inquired.

"Uh…yeah," Nic lied through his teeth.

"_Good, I don't need anything else to worry about right now," _

"Mmhmm," Nic agreed. "Anyways, time for us sprites to get some rest so we can think of a plan to save the town tomorrow!"

"_Yes, yes, fine. I suppose you've all earned the right to sleep. Goodnight."_ The sprites went into the forest to their home leaving the goddess to reflect on the day's events.

Just then she heard some ruffling in the grass, and off in the distance she could see something coming slowly towards her.

"_A puppy! How adorable!" _she smiled. _"What have you got in your mouth, there, cutey?"_

It was indeed Ruff 3, walking towards her in a trance-like state with something small in his mouth.

"_What's the matter, puppy? You seem…Oh, no! Get away!" _the goddess realized what it was that Ruff 3 had in his mouth. It was the magic sponge! "_Bad dog! BAD DOG! No! Don't you dare…!"_

Ploop!

Back on the farm, Jack III stared off into the distance angrily.

_Come back, doggy! _He repeatedly blew into the whistle.

_Spring the 14__th_

_What a day! I had forgotten about the harvest goddess' rivalry with her sister. That older one is mean mean mean! Hopefully she doesn't try to seek vengeance on me personally for trying to destroy her gate into this world… _

_Anyhoo, time for sleep. Another long day of thinking tomorrow!_

_Nic_

**THE END**

(So I guess since there have been no reviews for episode 3 yet it means that replacing a chapter on here doesn't alert people of the change, nor does it count as an update on here. Oh well, now you guys have two episodes to read! Until next time!)


	5. Episode V

_**Episode V: **_**The Azure Swallowtail**

Nac ran as fast as he could through the little village to get to the flower shop before the owner, Lyla, could get there first. Being the smallest of the harvest sprites, (though not the youngest), he was better able to move about without the villagers noticing him. Of course, that also meant that his legs were too short to take him anywhere speedily, and it was very important that the little sprite accomplish this mission on time. He carried in his hand a small advertisement that his brothers had given to him to post on the window of the flower shop for Lyla to see.

Fortunately for Nac, when he arrived at his destination, Lyla had not beaten him there and he tacked the paper as obviously as he could on the front window. Once he had completed the mission, he ran to the bushes where his brothers were waiting for him. They all watched as Lyla came closer and closer to the store.

"Good job, Nac," Nic patted him on the back.

"Thanks!"

"SHHH! Be quiet!" the patting moved to a slapping in the back of the head. "Lyla is about to read the note!" Nic whispered.

Lyla noticed the advertisement immediately, "Oh, what is this doing here?"

The sprites watched as she took the advertisement off the window.

"I don't remember telling anyone they could post this. Oh well, it's garbage now," she threw it in a garbage bin beside the entrance and entered the shop obliviously.

"Damnit!" Nic yelled.

"She threw it away!" Flak pointed out the obvious.

"What now?" Nac asked impatiently.

"We need her to read it!" Nic emerged from the bushes angrily. Running at full speed towards the shop, Nic was determined to bring the news to the attention of Lyla. Jumping up onto the edge of the garbage bin, he began rummaging through the trash in search of the important adertisement.

Just then, Lyla swung the door back open, allowing the sunlight to shine down upon her as the heavy door knocked Nic into the garbage bin, "Sonuva!"

"Oh, what a beautiful day," Lyla smiled. "Maybe I should just take the day off…"

"Aha!" Nic had succeeded in finding the advertisement, but he was now covered in something gooey. While Lyla was so easily distracted, Nic took his opportunity to jump out from the trash and tried to stick the paper on the doorknob. Alas, the gooey substance had now glued the paper to his palm, and his attempts were rendered useless.

"No, I need to make some money," Lyla sighed. "Once the town is demolished, I'm going to need some to live on for a while," she turned and reentered the shop, not noticing Nic behind the door as he hung from the doorknob angrily. The door was slammed harshly, and Nic was once again injured.

"Tramp!" he yelled bitterly.

The door swung open once more, hitting Nic and launching him several yards off in the distance. Luckily, this had freed the paper from his grasp and the wind blew it eerily right in front of Lyla's face.

"What could this be?" Lyla reached out and grabbed it. "Hmm, the Azure Swallowtail Butterfly… an endangered species. If we can capture one, this village would be seen as a preservation area and wouldn't be demolished! Thanks heavens! I may be able to save the homeland!" she rejoiced in her discovery. She read on, noting that the advertisement had been addressed to her from Jack III. "I think it is time I paid that genius boy a visit!" she smiled and was on her way.

Act 1 

Jack III noticed an old record player in the corner of the attic, it was very dusty and he had a hard time trying to figure out what it's function was. Picking the odd looking device up, he carried it down to the main floor to examine it more carefully in broader light. He blew the dust away with a heavy breath and looked around for any writing. There was something that said volume, but that never seemed to interest the deaf all that much.

He plugged the cord into a socket in the wall and immediately he noticed that the turntable began to spin. Still clueless as to what should be done now, and quite certain that this contraption was meant to play old movies, Jack III moved the needle on top of the spinning circle and waited to see what would happen. Nothing.

"Oooooo…" Lyla entered the farmhouse, troubled by the awful noise she heard from the inside. "What is that terrible noise?"

Jack III did not realize she was standing in the doorway, and instead frowned down at the useless machine evilly. Lyla saw what was happening and walked over to take the needle away.

"Hahaha, ever see one of these before?" she asked him.

Jack III looked very surprised to see her.

"It's old technology. You need a record. Let me see…" she walked over to a small cabinet at the back of the room and searched through a bunch of junk. "Aha!" she produced the record.

_Ah, it just needed a movie! _Jack III realized.

Lyla put it in the player and allowed the needle to play. "Mozart, a classic," she said with satisfaction.

Jack III waited and waited, but the stupid machine must have been broken.

"Whew, I' thirsty Lyla walked over and got herself a glass of water. "It's so hot today, summer always has this effect on me. Pardon the intrusion, by the way…" she sipped the glass of water as she walked over to where Jack III remained standing.

_Does this machine also require water to operate?_ Jack III took the glass from her without much warning.

"I see you're thirsty too," she smiled and turned away to hide her blush. "I just wanted to drop by and say thank you for the advertisement."

Jack III ignored her movements completely, and dumped the contents of the glass onto the record player. Nothing seemed to happen, except that the water dripped over the side of the table and ran along the floor. _Piece of crap, _Jack III angrily kicked the table and the player fell to the floor, unplugging itself from the wall as it did. If he had not been wearing shoes, the connection of the plug and the water would surely have electrocuted him. It was a good thing he never went bare footed like the rest of the villagers, villagers like Lyla, for example.

Alarmed, Lyla turned to see what was the matter. "Oh, you do seem to have a habit of being clumsy sometimes, don't you?" she walked over to help him pick it up. As soon as the poor girl stepped in the water, the electric shock launched her ten feet backwards in the air.

_What the hell was that!? _Jack III stood in amazement.

The harvest sprites arrived on the farm then , just in time for Lyla to land on top of Nac.

"She's out cold!" Nic was stunned at the sight.

"You mean he killed her!?" Flak had a look of terror on his face.

"Gttt hrrrr, uffff!" Nac's muffled screams were ignored.

"No, she's knocked out. Try and get Jack to help you move her somewhere safe. As for me, it's on to plan B," Nic announced.

Act 2 

Nic carefully planted the magic seed they need to in the goddess forest. The great swallowtail butterfly was going to be too big for the sprites to catch on their own, and it would easily escape them. This is where they desperately needed Jack III's help, for they could not count on Lyla anymore.

Carefully, Nac wrote out a description of what is job was going to be to capture the butterfly.

_Hmm, they want me to capture a butterfly. That sounds like fun! _Jack III read on. The note specifically stated that the seed would need three days to bloom into a beautiful blue flower, and that the butterfly would then come to sit upon it.

The three days were filled with numerous more disasters, yet nothing of any real importance to the story. Lyla had still not awoken from her coma, and Jack III had yet to figure out what had caused her to go all 'witch-crafty'.

On the day that the flower was to be fully bloomed, the harvest sprites raced to Jack III's house and bounced on his bed to wake him up. Jack III was an angry person in the morning, and decided that the best way to get them to stop would be to smother them with a pillow.

"Hllp! Hllllllp!" Nac's muffled cries were once again ignored.

Nic slapped Jack III hard in the face. The young farmer seemed to snap back to reality at that point, and stopped trying to murder the smallest of the sprites. _Oh, they want me to get that damned butterfly! _With a loud yawn and a stretch, Jack III got dressed and was soon ready to go.

"You okay, Nac?" Flak noticed the small sprite struggling to breath on the bed.

"Why does this keep happening to me?!"

The sprites and Jack III arrived at the goddess springs and waited for what seemed like hours for the butterfly to appear.

"Maybe you planted it in the wrong place," Flak suggested.

"Shut up! I'm never wrong!" Nic yelled.

"Look! There it is!" Nac pointed with excitement.

"Shh, we have to be quiet," Nic put a finger to his lips. Jack III indeed saw this gesture, and moved about very silently.

Like a predator stalking his prey, Jack III crawled at a slow pace, closer and closer to the butterfly as it landed on the beautiful blue flower.

_There is no escaping me! _Jack III stretched his arms outward, and with the speed of a ninja, he grabbed the butterfly by the wing and held it up in victory.

"Hurray!" the harvest sprites jumped for joy.

Jack III smiled at their happiness as he examined the insect closely. _Wow, I've never seen a butterfly like this before, _he thought to himself. _It's a shame I must destroy you._

Making a tight fist, the farmer crushed the butterfly in his glove. The sprites stopped rejoicing and stood in their places numbly.

_There you go, little friends, _Jack III handed the dead carcass to Nic. _He won't terrorize you anymore._

"…He… he…" Nic could say nothing more.

"Oops!" Nac realized his mistake suddenly. His brothers turned to face him.

"What happened?" Flak cried.

"I may have forgotten to tell him why we needed to capture the butterfly… alive."

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!' Nic chased the helpless spret through the forest.

_That's right, my friends. You're free to play all you like no without being afraid, _Jack III smiled proudly. He had done a good deed for his dear elven folk. He turned and began the walk back to the farm, it was time to go back to sleep.

Conclusion 

Lyla woke up in a daze, "Where… am I?"

"Hi sweetie," an old woman could now be seen sitting beside her bed. "How do you feel?"

"I, I'm fine. What happened?"

"Well, you were dropped at our doorstep a couple days ago with a note. Your friend was quite worried about you."

"Jack… I'm in a hospital?" Lyla tried hard to remember what had happened, but could not. _Did I simply dream the whole swallowtail thing up?_

"Yes, dear. A very special one."

"Am I going to be alright?"

"Well, that all depends on you. Coming here was step one, but now you must do everything you can to stop your habit," the old woman explained.

"My what?" Lyla was confused.

"Your witchcraft, you must do away with it all. You are in rehab, darling."

"Witchcraft? I've never…"

"Uh, uh, uh!" the old woman warned. "I'm not about to let you regress here, we have special ways of preventing that from happening, girlie."

"Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!"

_Summer the 5__th_

_Nic blamed everything on me! It's not fair! Jack is just dumb! Not me! And to think that we almost had a way to save the town once and for all…_

_I hope Lyla is doing okay._

_Nac _

THE END 

(A shorter episode today, but I think it's a good one! Now I've started implementing the game endings into the series. Hope you enjoyed, and get more of those reviews going, haha. I guess I really was gone for a while during that comp crash.  )


	6. Episode VI

_**EPISODE VI- **_**THE REAL THREAT**

Intro 

"Ah'm gonna catch 'im," Gwen told herself as she lay hidden in the bushes of the forest. "Ah'm gonna catch dat endangered weasel 'an save da village from destruction!"

While the harvest sprites had devised a similar plan to catch the endangered swallowtail butterfly, things had not quite worked in their favor in the end. Jack III perceived that he had saved his friends by destroying the evil creature that terrorized the small sprites, yet the REAL threat to the sprites had yet to be seen or heard from. They would never see it coming: the endangered weasel of doom.

A rustling came from a plantation of bushes down the happy path, and Gwen readied herself to catch her prey. She knew that while she needed it to stay in the village, she also needed to make sure it was protected from those who would be afraid of it. She was the only one who could do this.

The rustling became quicker and something could now be seen emerging from the greenery ahead.

"Now I've got… huh?" Gwen peered harder at the animal ahead. "Is that a harvest sprite?"

Indeed, she had come to capture an animal that was said not to exist, but little did she know that she would soon find another.

Nac was out for his morning stroll through the forest, marching happily to a tune in his tiny little head and completely oblivious to the girl hiding in the bushes ahead of him. Gwen slowly stood up then, revealing herself to the sprite and attempting not to frighten him as she did so. Nac was terrified, however.

"A blonde! They're the worst kind!" Nac shut his eyes tightly, too afraid to run.

"Please don't be afraid, I ain't gonna hurt ya. Ah jus' wanna talk," Gwen smiled warmly.

Nac opened, his eyes to see her. It was clear she was telling the truth, for she was within range to trample him. "Oh…okay,"

"So harvest sprites DO exist!" Gwen laughed happily. "Wow, dat izuh supprahz!"

"Huh?" Nac stared in confusion. This girl talked funny.

"Acshley, ah could use yer help ketchin' something dat could save the town," Gwen went on.

Nac immediately livened up. That was HIS goal, and he was happy that he may be of service to solving the problem. "I can help!" Nac piped.

"Good, good! Ah wuz countin' on ya, m'boy," Gwen put out her hand. "Name's Gwen, animal lova extraordinaire. Put 'er there,"

Nac shook her hand enthusiastically. "I'm Nac, the middle child of the village's harvest sprites, in service of the harvest goddess herself!"

"Impressive," Gwen commented. "Of how many siblin's?"

"Initially…30745. But I live with the eldest brother, Nic, and the youngest, Flak. I'm also what they call the 'runt'."

ROAR!

Out of nowhere, a large beast appeared and swallowed the tiny sprite whole. Gwen stared in terror into the eyes of the evil weasel of doom, and then the beast ran off.

"Aw no! He gone 'n ate Nap! Ah gotsta fand Nip n' Flap!"

Act 1 

"Have you seen Nac anywhere today?" Nic asked his youngest brother, Flak, as the two aided Jack III in the planting of more crops.

"Nope," Flak replied flatly.

"Okay," he ignored the situation completely and continued planting seeds.

"Aha!" Gwen emerged from behind the three unaware planters.

"Oh no! We've been discovered!" Nic panicked.

"What do we do!" Flak covered his eyes with his hands.

"The only thing we can do," Nic stared the tall blonde girl in the eyes. "Jack, you have to kill her for us so that our secret existence can remain unknown to the inhabitants of this village!"

Jack III went right on burying the seeds, not realizing that Gwen had even appeared on the scene.

"Ehem," Nic cleared his throat and slapped Flak in the back of the head.

"Ouch… oh, right!" Flak remembered and turned to tap Jack III on the shoulder.

Jack III became quickly annoyed at this and poked Flak back harshly in the forehead, knocking him on his bottom.

"I can't get up!" the overweight sprite rolled on his back helplessly.

"Clearly, this isn't gonna work," Nic decided. "Alright girlie, what do you want with us?"

"Ah seen yer bro been eaten by uh dog gone weasel!" Gwen explained.

"… Okay… in English, please,"

"Ah said that ah seen yer…"

_Blonde hottie! _Jack III finally realized Gwen was standing behind him and hugged her tightly in greeting.

"Uh, hullo… Ya not hearin' us talkin' before?" Gwen was trapped in his bear hug.

Jack III unclasped his grip on his body reluctantly, but maintained his friendly smile.

"He's, um…" Nic thought. "Just really busy with getting the farm back into shape is all,"

"Ah see. Well, 'un. We need ta go rescue that Nappy fella,"

"Nappy?"

"Wuz it Nat? Mebe it wuz Nash…" she tried to remember.

"Nac! What happened to him?!" Nic wailed.

"Ah said it before, he been eaten!"

"Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!" the sprites cried.

"Ah said ah told ya's before," she stomped her foot angrily.

"What ate him?" Nic demanded to know.

"A damned weasel! The endangered one that can save the homeland!" she waved her hands in the air with exasperation.

Jack III stared at her in contemplation, _This girl is a terrible dancer. Ugh._

"That thing has been terrorizing sprites for too long!" Nic yelled out. "It's time we slay that evil creature!"

"What?!" Gwen squealed. "Yer eggs in uh waste basket!"

"I what?"

"Yer outta yer mind!" she clarified. "That beast is the only damn thang that we can use ta save the town!"

"I don't care! I'd rather live in the middle of a loud and crazy carnival for the rest of my days than have to deal with that thing any longer! He ATE Nac, for crying out loud!" Nic really did have a point here. The weasel was too dangerous to keep around for the sprites.

"Aw horse poop. You small fellers can do what ya like, but me an' Jack here are gonna catch 'im first and use him to save the town," Gwen grabbed Jack III by the arm forcefully.

_Wow, the girls in this town are real easy, _Jack III winked at his little friends in secrecy. He was sure they got the message.

"Fine!" Nic screamed at her.

To Jack III, the little sprite suddenly seemed angry. _Poor guy, he's probably just a little bit jealous. Wait, I have an idea…_he left suddenly and disappeared inside the barn.

"Jack?" Gwen called after him.

"Your voice pitch is too high and annoying for him to hear you!" Nic spat.

"Why you, I oughtta squash you like a bug!"

"At least I don't look like one!"

"Or mebe ah'll feed ya ta the weasel like yer brother!"

"Noooo!" Flak cried from further away.

Jack III returned then with a small little female lawn gnome. _There, go to town, little buddy, _he set it down before the sprite and walked off hooking arms with Gwen.

Nic stared at it a moment, "I really just don't get that guy,"

Act 2 

Later that day, Gwen and Jack III had recruited the help of the local crazed inventor, Louis, and the three had set off to find the endangered weasel.

At the very same time, Nic and Flak were seeking the guidance of the harvest goddess herself.

"Hey, how'd this magic sponge get in the pond…?" Nic wondered.

"Oh no! She could have been trapped in her dimension for days," Flak stared with eyes wide open.

"Yep… oh well. Nothing we can do about it right now. We're on a mission!" Nic concluded. With that, they were off to search out the endangered weasel and seek vengeance for their fallen brother.

Meanwhile, Louis babbled on endlessly about his new invention, a contraption that he hoped would catch the endangered weasel without the hastle of tracking the animal first. "Yes, the 'C-429WT' will catch the weasel no problem. All's I gotta do is flip this switch rght here, and it will sound off an alarm that no one but the beast himself can hear. He'll come straight to us!"

"What's C-429WT stand for?" Gwen blinked skeptically.

"Well, the WT obviously stands for 'Weasel Trap'," Louis smiled.

"An' the C-429?"

"You don't wanna know."

With that, he flipped the switch an a high pitch sound apparently had gone off. They waited. And waited. And waited…

"Nope, this one definitely didn't work," Louis flipped the switch off and on again.

"Will it work now?" Gwen asked.

"I'm not sure, the pitch becomes lower and lower each time I turn it on."

"How many tones does yer thingy ma bobber have?"

Louis shot her a tantalizing look.

"FOUR-HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE TIMES!?" Gwen raged.

"I told you, you didn't want to know."

Louis flipped the switch off and on again, this time they two heard the sound loud and clear. Too loud, in fact, and they fell to the ground in sheer pain from the pressure on their eardrums.

"I think the weasel can hear sound at the same level we can!" Louis yelled to her.

"WHAT!?" Gwen could no longer hear a thing.

"What?"

They both looked up at Jack III who was looking at them in confusion, _You two frighten much too easily._

"Jack, you must have an amazingly resistant sense of hearing," Louis said. "You press the switch this time, we'll cover our ears," he pointed to the contraption.

Jack III looked to where Louis was pointing. He walked over and examined it closer. He had no clue why this man was pointing to the item.

"Press it!" they instructed. Jack III still couldn't understand. They unplugged their ears to show him what to do, but then it clicked in his mind what they wanted him to do.

_Crazy guy flipped this thingy a bunch of times, so that must be what they want me to do._ Jack III flipped it without warning, again and again and again, sending off a torrent of unbearably deafening sounds through the forest, and knocking his poor companions to the ground once more in a state of shock. _Guys? _He turned to find them on the ground shaking wildly. _You are BOTH terrible dancers._

"Ahhhhhh!" the two sprites whizzed by in a fury past Jack III and the two shocked hunters. "The weasel is gonna eat us!"

Jack III stared at them, unimpressed with their rude intrusion. The sprites stopped running and turned to him. It was obvious that he had no clue what was happening.

"C'mon, Jack! It's right behind us!" Flak yelled.

Jack III turned to where the sprite was pointing. He was still very confused.

"At least, he was there…" Flak scratched his head. The sprites then carefully stepped back to where they had come from, Jack III followed closely out of curiosity. Eventually they came upon the weasel, laying on the ground in the same state of shock that both Gwen and Louis were now in.

Nic turned to Jack III, "No problems, I'll take it from here!"

Jack III raised an eyebrow. Perhaps they had been playing a game with the beast. Which brought him to the thought of his own dog, who was sitting at the farm all alone. Perhaps it was time he got back and played with him for a bit, for a day out with Gwen did not turn out at all like he had hoped. On that note, he left.

"Time to destroy it!" Nic laughed.

"But… what if he's the only way to save the village?" Flak cried.

"MmmmMMmmm!" a mumbling came from the weasel.

"Uh… true," Nic looked at the weasel oddly. "Perhaps if we put him in a cage or something…"

"MMMMMMM!"

"What the hell is that sound?!" Nic yelled. He listened closely to the animal's side, the sound was definitely coming from the belly of the beast.

"What do you think it is?" Flak wondered.

"I think it's Nac! He's still alive in there!" Nic announced.

"How do you know that?"

"Nothing else is quite so annoying, except maybe you. Help me cut this thing open."

Conclusion 

"You say you saw 'real' harvest sprites?" Katie asked Gwen in astonishment.

"What?"

"I said you say…"

"Speak up, ah can't hear ya!" Gwen growled.

"How can't you hear me? I'm speaking louder than you are."

"…Huh?"

"Gwen, quit being a nitwit!" Katie yelled in anger.

Gwen could not hear anything but muffled sounds, perhaps her hearing was permanently lost. "LOUDER!" she roared.

"I SAID QUIT BEING AN ANNOYING LITTLE WHORE AND ANSWER ME!!!" Katie raged in frustration.

"… 'Kay ah almost heard it that time, just a bit louder,"

"Rrrgh!" Katie did not know how to deal with this taunting girl.

Now Gwen realized what had happened. "Aw, nah! That damned Jackie boy seems ta have damaged ma ear thang!"

"You… you were with Jack?" Katie was now drawing tears.

"What?"

SLAP!

"I hate you! You know I'm in love with him and you went behind my back to be with him! I HATE YOU, GWEN!" Katie stormed off.

"Nah, girl! Real 'uns! I saw 'em with ma own two eyes!"

Summer the 13th 

_Nac iznt ded! Yay! _

_Gwen told us tat the weezl ayt him and it wuz troo but then we opind up the weezl and ther wuz Nac! I wundr if we ken stil yooz the weezl too sav the taoon?_

THE END 

(So in celebration of HMTV season 2's 2000th hit here at I have posted a new commentary chapter for it. One thing I left out: EveKaren's grandmother? You decide. If no, then whatever. If yes, then Jack II and Karen are cousins, and that was quite unintentional on my part lol).


	7. Episode VII

_**Episode VII: **_**Treasure Hunt**

Intro 

Tim, the young boy from the village, ran as fast as he could through the little township towards Jack III's house. It was still quite early on the bright morning, and the energetic child was the only one up and about at such an hour. But the boy was very excited, and he knew that he needed help on his quest that he was about to embark on.

Up the hill, Jack III's farm was now in full view, and the boy was almost completely out of breath from running so hard. He stopped to catch it for a moment while studying his surroundings, but his 'target' was nowhere to be seen.

"This is going to be tougher than I had hoped," the boy frowned. Walking closer, Tim aimed to sneak a peek inside the window of the farmhouse where Jack III was probably sleeping.

Being so unfortunately short, the boy had to leap into the air to reach the window. One he had taken a few quick jumps, he was able to see what he was up against. Jack III was sound asleep in his bed, and the target was just beneath it.

Tim crept ever so quietly to the door and slowly turned the knob. Little did he know, NOTHING was going to wake Jack III from his slumber (nothing sound-related, that is). Alas, the door opened on que, and the boy was now inside. He pitter-pattered over to Jack III's bedside and stared at him for a moment to make sure he was not about to awaken, then he snatched the target and ran out as fast as he could, forgetting to close the door behind him.

He ran and ran until the farm was out of sight and he knew he was in the clear. When he felt safe, he dropped his loot on the ground.

'Arf!'

Ruff 3 barked his dissatisfaction for having been woken up, stolen, and dropped harshly to the ground.

"Shh, I need your help, boy," Tim told him. Ruff 3 turned his head sideways, as if to try and understand what was being said to him. Then he flopped to the ground and tried once again to wander off to sleep. "Now!"

Act 1 

"It… it was really heavy!" Nic huffed tiredly. "We just needed a few days to find the right way to lift the sponge out of your pond and allow… Heh, heh, heh…" he struggled to catch his breath. "You access into this world once more!"

"_A FEW DAYS!?!?!"_ the harvest goddess roared. _"It's been weeks since I've been able to come back! You stupid sprites! Why do I even keep you around? A human could have lifted it out no problem right away if he were in my services!"_

"Or she," Flak was very politically correct.

"_No 'she'! I am the only female worthy of being in charge of anything. You three really screwed up this time!"_

"We've made quite a lot of progress…" Nac offered.

"_Oh, like hell you have! I am THIS close to turning you all into toads!"_

"Wouldn't that be a little too… unoriginal for someone as great as yourself?" Nic asked.

"_Ah, yes. Perhaps I should just destroy you all instead…"_

"Nevermind!" Nic stood corrected.

"_What has been done to secure the town's safety since I've been trapped in my own dimension?" _the goddess folded her arms grumpily.

"Uh…" the three sprite thought long and hard.

"_I knew it. Nothing. NOTHING has been done! Do you realize how…"_ the goddess was stopped mid-sentence and had a look of fear in her eyes. _"It's him! It's that devil dog that trapped me! He's coming, I can sense him! I will go, but you must summon me once he has left so I may punish you!" _with that said, the goddess vanished into her pond.

"Quick, into the trees!" Flak yelled.

As the sprites moved swiftly out of sight, Tim and Ruff 3 came into view.

"This map should lead us to treasure, but I need you to help me find it once we've gotten close to the X. Can you sniff it out for me, boy?" Tim asked the pup. Ruff 3 didn't know how to answer the young child, which did not really matter because he did not know how to understand him either.

"Treasure…?" Nac whispered from the sprites' hiding spot.

"Hmm, according to this map that I found, it should be right behind that set of bushes somewhere," Time pointed ahead of them.

'Arf!'

"Oh no!" Nic realized something suddenly.

"What?" Nac and Flak leaned in closely.

"I think I know what 'treasure' that map leads to!"

"Will it help to save the homeland?" Nac perked up.

"Not at all. It was a map that the goddess gave to me to protect! It leads to an underground portal to Mineral town!"

"…"

"To the goddess pond! Meaning that the harvest goddess' evil twin sister will be able to come here and wreak havoc on the town if the portal is reopened!" Nic smacked himself on the head.

"How did you lose the map?" Flak wondered.

"I buried it in a sand pit, that dumb kid must have found it!"

"We need to throw Ruff 3 off the trail!" Nac suggested.

"That won't buy us much time, eventually the kid will start digging and find the device that opens the portal."

Meanwhile, Jack III had just awakened from a deep sleep and was searching his premises for his little lost dog. _Where could he be?_

Jack III tried everything he could think of to get the dog's attention. He put out food, he banged loudly on the side of his farmhouse hoping that the dog could hear it, he even ran around jumping and barking like an idiot because he was willing to try anything to find the poor mutt. Nothing was working. It was time to go to town and see if the townspeople could help him find the dog.

The first individual he came across was Joe's younger brother, Kurt. Jack III waved to him in attempt to get his attention.

"What do you want?" Kurt squinted in disinterest. The boy was a tradesman's apprentice like his older brother, but was not very friendly towards his fellow man.

Jack III sensed that this person was quite hateful, but nevertheless, he needed to find his dog. Perhaps this boy had seen him.

"You deaf or somethin'?" Kurt frowned moodily.

_Hmm, how am I to ask him…? _Jack III thought hard.

"What is your problem!?" Kurt stepped forward angrily.

_Too close! _

BAM!

Before Jack III could stop himself, his instincts had told him to protect himself from an oncoming threat, and he kicked Kurt swiftly in the nutsack, and NOT the one he was holding in his hands at the time.

"What the hell, man?" Kurt fell to the ground in agony.

Jack III had no idea what to do now. In all randomness, he dropped to his knees and pranced around barking in a somewhat odd fashion (because he had never heard a dog bark before, his bark sounded more like a dying squirrel.

"Mehhhhhhhhh"

Now a few townspeople had seen what was happening and began to gather around the two.

"Kurt, did you pick a fight? Serves you right for being such an ass!" Joe was the first one to say anything.

"I didn't do anything," Kurt rolled around in pain, whining. "He just kicked me and now he's making fun of me!"

"Mehhhhhhhhh!" Jack III began rolling around as dogs do.

"Hahaha," the villagers laughed. Kurt was bound to end up starting a fight and getting hurt in the process sometime, it was just the way he was. This indeed served him right.

_More people! _Jack III rejoiced. _Now everyone can help me find my puppy!_

"MEHHHHH!"

Act 2 

Tim dug deep into the ground.

"I think I hit something! Good boy, puppy!"

'Arf!'

"Oh, no! He's found it! We need to think faster!" Nic cried.

"I'm gonna grab it from him when he lifts it out!" Nac volunteered fearlessly.

"I was just gonna say that," Nic smiled proudly. "Be ready!"

"You… you were?"

"Shut up and get ready!"

"What is it?" Tim examined the device as he pulled it from the dirt.

"Go!" Nic whispered as Nac zoomed out of their cover and dove into the air to snatch the valued item.

"Hmm," Tim turned suddenly to bring the device into better light. In turn, Nac missed and fell deep into the hole in the ground.

"Oh well, I'll get someone to help me figure it out later. Right now I have to fill in this hole before someone finds it and gets angry," Tim set the device down and began shoveling dirt back into the ground.

"Ahhhh!" Nac's screams of terror were muffled by the incoming heaps.

"We need to help him!" Flak panicked.

"Are you kidding? The device is right THERE," Nic pointed. "We need to get that while he's busy."

"But… Can't you do that while I help Nac?"

"Nope, you're gonna be the diversion for the dog while I snatch the device.

"Oh…" Flak was unsure about this.

"And…go," Nic booted the sprite out from the cover of the trees and into clear view. Ruff 3 noticed the sprite instantly and decided that they were going to play their usual game of 'dog chases sprite'.

'Arf!"

"Ahhhhh!" Flak ran as fast as he could away from the pup (which is not very fast at all for he is the fattest of the sprites.

Nic proudly walked out from the trees and easily snatched the item from its resting place.

"What's gotten into you?" Tim watched the dog run further into the forest. It was at this point that Nac steadily pulled himself up from the hole in all tiredness and collapsed on the grass beside it.

"I better make sure he doesn't get himself lost," Tim threw the shovel down, (which fell harshly on Nac, pinning him to the ground) and chased off after Ruff 3.

"Time to fix this mistake," Nic decided as he pulled the heavy device towards the goddess pond, hoping the water would render it useless.

"Help me!" Nac called in pain.

"Quit fooling around, this is important," Nic snapped.

"But I'm stuck!" Nac's claims were ignored.

Nic pushed the device into the pond and smiled at his accomplishment, not remembering that throwing objects into it usually summoned the goddess.

"_Is that devil creature gone?" _she asked.

"Ahhh!" Nic was scared out of his wits at her sudden arrival. "Um… yes,"

"_Good, now, time to punish… where are your idiot brothers?"_

"Nac's is right behind those bushes acting like a moron. Flak is being chased by the dog."

"_Oh… perhaps I have misjudged you, then. That was quick thinking on your part, getting that dreadful monster out of my forest. Maybe I could let you off the hook this one time. Nac?" _the goddess spotted Nac stumbling out of the forest after having crawled painfully out from the crushing weight of the shovel.

'Huff, huff, huff,'

"_You, however, will indeed still be punished. You are the smallest and fastest of the bunch, yet you made your poor fat younger brother get chased. It is quite possible he is dead now, all due to your laziness!" _the goddess yelled.

Nac wanted to protest, but instead he collapsed in exhaustion.

"Give it a rest, you tool," Nic frowned.

Conclusion 

Jack III grinned in happiness as Ruff 3 jumped into his arms. The dog came back as happy as ever, and all was fine.

_What is that in his mouth? _He pulled out a very stunned looking Flak from the dog's teeth. _Hello! _Jack III smiled in greeting.

Nic walked into view of the farm now, satisfied that all was the way it should be. "Good job, Flak. We saved the day."

"Y…y…ay…" Flak shivered in shock.

_Now I can go about my work without having to worry about my puppy, _Jack III picked up his sickle and walked into the tall grass to begin hacking.

"This turned out to be an alright day," Nic sighed. "We may not be any closer to saving the town, but at least we avoided a war between the harvest goddesses."

Just then, Kurt could be seen trudging up the hill angrily.

"He looks pissed, let's get out of sight," Nic ran behind the farmhouse, leaving a battered Flak to pull himself across the grass.

"Jack! I've got a score to settle with you!" Kurt yelled out loud.

He thought Jack III must have been ignoring him, because using a sicjle was not very loud at all.

"Hey, Jack! I'm talking to you!" Kurt came closer and closer to the tall grass.

Jack III just kept hacking away, not sensing a presence at all.

"Fine!" Kurt entered the region of tall grass. "You don't wanna talk things out, lets settle this like men!"

It was then that Kurt fell to the ground, not realizing what had caused him to fall until he saw his own two legs still standing in the grass beside him.

"Ahh! My legs! You hacked my legs off!"

Jack III kept at his task, still not noticing Kurt's presence.

"Jack! Look what you did! JACK!!!!"

_Phew,_ Jack III wiped the sweat from his forehead. _I wonder if my grandpa Tony has a whipper skipper, that would be much quicker. And more efficient._

_Summer the 20__th_

_Okay so the day turned out kinda rough afterall. I really hope the townspeople will forgive Jack for cutting of Kurt's legs… Maybe he'll keep his mouth shut so that nothing else bad happens to him though. That Jack sure is trouble. Good thing I'm always on top of these things!_

_Nic._

THE END 

(Who knew I'd still be so busy without school or a job to keep me occupied? As a result this is kinda late, again. I'll try to pick up the pace, but hopefully you guys enjoyed this one anyway.)


	8. Episode VIII

_**Episode VIII: **_**Racing Horses, Making Sense**

Intro 

"Hello, Mr. Uh…" the older gentleman greeted when Jack III opened his door early one morning.

"Ah-chooo!" Jack III was very sick this morning, and couldn't seem to stop seezing.

"Mr. Achu, right! Is that Greek, Polish perhaps?"

Jack III put one hand on his aching head, his eyes rolled over as the dizziness subsided. The old man in front of him took this as a sign of disinterest and decided to go on with his speech.

"Right, well. My name is Gregorious Taximus, and I am here with a proposal on behalf of the Mineral Town racing society. We've not been around many years, but we have been quite successful over time and are looking to expand. My sources inform me that your grandfather owned a horse in the stables in this town, and I was wondering if you would be interested in racing him this year."

_This guy takes one hell of a long time to say 'bless you'…_ Jack III nodded his groggy head in thanks.

"Oh you would! That's fantastic to hear! The race takes place tomorrow in Mineral Town Square. I shall anticipate your arrival with great excitement!" Taximus held out his hand to shake.

"Ah-chooo!" Jack III sneezed all over the man's hand.

"Oh, uh… bless you," Gregorious Taximus wiped his hand awkwardly on his pants and tipped his hat in farewell.

Jack III closed the door and turned around to see his three nosy friends, the harvest sprites, standing before him. _Where am I? _He wondered in drowsy glum.

"You own a horse and you didn't tell us!? Shame on you!" Flak frowned.

Nic slapped the dope on the head, "He doesn't know that, stupid! And even if he didn, he couldn't tell us!"

"Oh, yeah…" Flak slumped to the ground.

"We need to get Jack to the stables and find his horse!" Nac jumped up in excitement.

"That's going to be tough," Nic pointed to Jack III. The poor sick farmer swerved from side to side, barely able to keep on his feet.

"We need drugs," Nac observed.

"A lot of drugs," his brothers agreed.

Act 1 

The sprites arrived a few minutes later back at the farm with a barrel full of stolen drugs, hoping that they could find the right ones to help the young farmer feel better in time for the race tomorrow.

"Hmm, drowsiness, aches and pains, and stuffy nose," Nac read the first box.

"This one is for people who can't sleep though. This stuff will knock him unconscious for the next three or four days. We can't use that," Nic threw the package away.

"Sorry," Nac looked down in shame.

"What about this one?" Nic examined a similar package with different colors. "Hmm, same symptoms, but it's for people who need to work in the daytime. These are what we need!"

"I'm bored," Flak complained to himself, ignoring the situation completely.

"Okay, Jack, take these," Nic held out two small pills in his hand. Jack III accepted them thankfully, but was his clouded mind disabled him from showing any amount of enthusiasm. "Good, now we can go to the stables. You'll feel better soon, Jack," Nic reached up to grab his hand and led him slowly outside of the farmhouse.

It took a little while but the sprites and Jack III arrived at the stables without anyone seeing them, and by that time, Jack III was already feeling much better. Bob could be seen in through the stable windows as he fed the horses. The sprites led their pal to the front door and scattered before the owner could see them.

"Hello, Mr. Jack! Good to see you're finally ready to see the horse your grandfather left you. His name is Henry, and he's a real fine animal. I was glad to see you took some time to settle in to the farm before diving right in to raising animals, many farmers make that mistake," Bob smiled.

"Ah-choo!" Jack III sneezed again. He may have felt much less groggy, but the cold was still with him.

"Oh, that reminds me. Mister Taximus came over and informed me that you were going to race Henry tomorrow. You may want to rethink that, he's very out of practice and has been a little sick lately."

"Uh oh," the sprites listened from outside.

"Though the prize money could most likely save the town from being demolished, I wouldn't want old Henry here to overstrain himself at his age," Bob explained.

Jack III sniffled loudly.

"I understand your confidence, your grandfather took very good care of this horse," Bob smiled at Jack III's supposed snort. "Just be careful," with that, he led Jack III to where Henry was feeding. "This is him," he presented the large animal.

_A horse's ass, how lovely. What does he want me to do? _Jack III stared at the backside of Henry.

Bob walked over and picked the saddle up from the back of the stable. He happily applied it to the top of the racing horse and motioned Jack III to get on top. Jack III complied gaily.

The sprites cheered from their cover as Jack III ran the horse around the small track a few times, happy that perhaps they would win enough money to buy back the town. The plan was not yet over, however. They had to make posters for every door of the town so that the townspeople would know to show up to Mineral Town in the morning and bet on Henry the racing horse!

"This way everyone will be able to do their share in contributing to buying back their land!" Nic rejoiced with his brothers.

Bob handed a small bag to Jack III before he left for home, "This bag contains the pills I've been giving to Henry to make him feel better. Make sure you give him one tomorrow morning, and use your good judgment on whether or not to participate in the race," they shook hands and waved goodbye to each other.

Act 2 

Everyone from the Village showed up the next day for the grand event in Mineral Town. Each had bet a good amount on Jack III's horse, and they joined a large crowd to cheer on their champion.

"Okay, how ya feeling, Jack?" Nic looked up at Jack III.

Jack III fainted.

"Just a little nervous, okay. Just in case, though, better take some pills. I gave Henry his medicine before we left this morning, I just hope he isn't too tired from the long walk over," Nic crossed his arms. "FLAK, did you remember to bring Jack III's pills like I told you?"

"Yep!" Flak wheeled a barrel out from the bushes.

"You moron! Why'd you bring the whole barrel?" Nic raged.

"You didn't tell me I couldn't," Flak reasoned dumbly.

"Ugh, whatever," Nic rolled his eyes. "Give him the pills, me and Nac are going to wait over in the bushes surrounding the finish line. Come meet us."

Jack III awoke in pain.

"Don't worry, I'll fix you up!" Flak pulled out a few boxes of pills. "Hmm, dersnis, atchis and pins… these words making any sense!" the young sprite was not a strong reader. "Hmm, this box says the same thing… I'm sure it has to be one of them… but if they both say the same thing then maybe they are both right! I'll give you one of each!" Flak looked at the barely conscious farmer, whose eyes seemed as though they were about to fall out from their sockets.

"Rglglgl," he mumbled.

"…A lot of each!" Flak decided as he ripped out 4 pills from the daytime cold pack, and 4 from the nighttime pack respectively."

The sprite put the 8 pills in Jack III's mouth for him and ran for cover. It took some time, but eventually they began to take effect and Jack III livened up once more.

The race was finally set to begin and Jack III was led to the saddle on Henry's back. It was upon setting himself in place that he realized his surrounding were spinning.

"Ready!" Taximus called into a microphone as the contestants prepared themselves for the gunshot that would begin the race. "On your marks, get set… go!"

BANG!

The doors opened suddenly in front of Jack III and Henry, and the poor unprepared farmer nearly fell off due to having no warning ahead of time.

The horses launched at blinding speeds from the starting points and all seemed to be toe to toe with one another.

_There's a rabbit running along the fence? _Jack III tried to focus ahead of himself as he held on for dear life. Unfortunately, at that moment, the nighttime cold pills began to fight their way through his system, and all began to fade to black.

The audience watched in terror as the unconscious farmer slipped slowly off of the speeding Henry. Jack III's leg caught on the saddle as he fell from the animal, leaving the top half of his body to be dragged behind in the thick dirt.

"What the hell?!" Nic yelled.

"Oh, I know what happened!" Nac chirped. "We forgot that Flak can't read!"

"Can too!" Flak lied.

A horse came up beside Henry, who was being slowed down by the dragging body behind him. Its legs caught on to Jack III's bouncing head, kicking him up high off the ground. His leg unhooked itself from the saddle and he flew up on top of the horse's racer limply.

"That man is being attacked!" someone yelled from the crowd.

A fellow contestant raced up beside the chaos and the rider began kicking the man who had jumped from his horse to attack another. Still, Jack III did not wake up.

"Help! Get him off of me!" the rider screamed as he elbowed Jack III in the stomach. It took some hard blows, but finally, the farmer snapped wide awake.

He glared down at the man he now straddled, _Who is this man and why is he on my horse?_

Grabbing the rider on his shoulders, Jack III flung him swiftly off of the horse and he flew through the air and into the crowds harshly.

_And who is this man who feels the need to kick me so mercilessly? _Jack III turned his attention to the right. It was time to teach him a lesson. Jack III peeled off his left shoe and threw it at the attacker, hitting him square in the face and sending him off balance. Jack III then took off his other shoe and threw it, this time knocking the rider of his horse.

Turning his attention to the front, Jack III realized that the horse's ass ahead seemed distinctly familiar. _My horsy?_

Jack III was ecstatic that his horse was winning the race, but quite confused as to how he was now on another's. Just when all seemed at it's oddest, he once again fell into sweet slumber.

"And the winner is Henry… who is disqualified for having no rider upon his back!" Taximus announced.

"That was fun!" Flak smiled happily from the bushes.

Conclusion 

"I can't declare a winner, we need to redo the entire race!" Taximus yelled.

Hoards of people crowded around him in outrage.

"That pipsqueak attacked our rider!" one said.

"Those guys were kicking each other!"

"The winner had no rider!"

"Henry won fair and square!" the sprites tried to be heard amongst the crowd as they hid away in small barrels.

In the end, it was decided that the race needed to be had once more. Jack III awoke once again upon his horse in the starting place, the door shut.

_Wow… Déjà vu!_

"On your marks, get set, go!"

BANG!

Again, not hearing the sound, Jack III never saw it coming. The door opened and Henry dashed out, sending Jack III flying off, doing mid-air backflips until landing roughly on the ground.

_Or no déjà vu… _he thought angrily.

Henry won the race once more, but was again disqualified. The village people all lost their money they had gambled on him, and things seemed even worse than ever for the little town.

Even so, the townspeople applauded Jack III for his ruthless attempt to crush the other riders, and refused to blame him for the loss. Words of encouragement were offered, but literally fell on deaf ears, and Jack III decided he would never let anyone put him on a horse again.

Groggily, the sick farmer tiredly walked around his farm yard with no direction or real conscious thought at all.

"Poor Jack, he's still so out of it," Nac sympathized.

"Yeah, all because Flak is an idiot," Nic cursed.

"It's not his fault he can't read!" Nac defended his young brother.

"Whatever. What are we gonna do about Jack? He's so doped up on pills, I just saw him try to brush his teeth with a carrot…" Nic sighed.

Flak joined them, but seemed strangely entranced by the goofy farmer out in the fields.

"That's nothing, I just saw him walking around with a pot on his head!" Nac claimed.

"He's getting pretty lazy too," Flak mused. "Now he's drinking milk straight from the cow, hahaha. Ew…"

"Dumbass!" Nic ran towards the thirsty farmer. "That's no cow!"

_Autumn the 2__nd_

_What a disaster. At least I didn't get hurt today!_

_Nac._

THE END 

(Okay, bad joke lol. Really bad joke, lets pretend it was just a garden hose… yes? Keep reading, I'm slowly progressing towards the finish!)


	9. Episode IX

_**Episode IX- **_** Pretty Boy**

Intro 

Gina wanted to make a dress for her dear friend Dia in preparation for the upcoming flower festival. It was meant to be a surprise, for Gina knew that Dia would never expect such a gesture from her and it would without a doubt maker her very happy. Unfortunately, Gina was in need of some materials, and she knew not where to find them.

"What are you going to do without your special thread?" Katie looked at Gina oddly.

"There has to be someone in this town who can help me get some," she thought hard to herself.

"But we don't even know where it comes from, how on earth are we supposed to get it if we don't know who makes the stuff?"

"Perhaps we should talk to the townspeople and investigate this matter further," Gina decided for them.

"…We?" Katie cocked an eyebrow.

"Uh, well I just assumed…"

"Never assume with me," Katie warned with a stern look on her face.

"O…okay, sorry. I just thought you wanted to help me out on this one,"

"Really, what would give you that impression?" Katie now looked quite angry.

"It was your idea," Gina peeped.

Katie thought for a moment, "That's just because I'm smarter than you. But since you admit that, I guess I could help out a little."

"Uh, okay…"

"What now!?" Katie rolled her eyes.

"Nothing, nothing,"

"I swear, you are the strangest little girl I've ever seen! There is seriously something wrong with you!"

Gina scrunched her body low, "What?"

"Nevermind, lets just get this over with," Katie led her friend into the furthest reaches of the town on their quest.

Hiding behind the bushes, the little harvest sprites happened to overhear the conversation and began to speak amongst themselves about the mysterious thread needed to stitch the beautiful dress for Dia.

"Lets go make our marvelous thread!" Nac jumped for joy.

"We don't have time for that!" Nic yelled at his brother harshly.

"Why not?" Flak asked dumbly.

"Because we're trying to save the village from destruction!" Nic walked off into the forest as the others trailed behind.

"It'll only take a day or so," Nac kept trying.

"No!"

"Please?" Flak whined.

"No!"

"I'll make dinner for us tonight if we can help them!" Nac laid down his bargaining chip.

"Alright,"

"Really?"

"No! And you're making dinner for us tonight anyhow, it's your turn!"

The little sprite had run out of options too fast.

Act 1 

Jack III finished his delightful breakfast by himself and gave the scraps to Ruff3. He walked outside to see that it was indeed a blistering day, and he would need a jacket if he was going to get any crops planted this season. It was then that he discovered a note on his door, it read:

Hello, Jack! I know you're still new in town, but there is a special thread that can sometimes be found around the village this time of year that I need to make a special dress. If I can prove what a valuable material it is at the upcoming flower festival, I know that it will save the town from destruction! Anyways, just let me know if you happen to find any. It turns up in the oddest of places,

_Your friend, Gina_

Jack III was stunned by the news, _this village is on the verge of destruction?! _This new revelation struck a cord in him, _what could possibly be threatening this place? _Something was very wrong with this situation, and Jack III knew he could trust no one when it came to this most secret of missions.

"Hello, Jack!" Nac piped from below.

Jack III stared off into the sky, unmoved.

"He can't hear you, remember?" Nic was annoyed.

"He seems pretty busy looking at something," Flak suggested. "How do we get his attention?"

Angrily, Nic walked closer and kicked Jack III in the ankle.

_Ouch! _Jack III felt the sudden pain and looked down to find the angry sprite staring up at him. Nic proceeded to open and close his outreaching hands, signaling that he wanted to read the paper in Jack III's hand.

_Looks like someone needs a hug, _Jack III smiled and picked the little fellow up, crushing him in a very tight bear hug.

"Lemme gaaahhhh…!"

Nic dropped to the ground in pain and stared up at his two curious brothers, "Get that piece of paper from him, it may be important!"

Nac understood what he had to do. He looked up at the young man infront of himself and without warning, he dashed up Jack III's body and lunged for the paper he held tightly. Jack III would not have this, for this was his mission and his alone. Swiftly, he whisked the paper out of Nac's reach and sent him tumbling to the ground. Not knowing what to do next, Jack III stuffed the note inside his mouth and continued to chew it.

"Failures!" Nic raged. "Now we'll never know what was in that letter!"

"I'm sure it couldn't have been all that important to us if he didn't want us to read it…" Flak scratched his head.

"Fine, fine. We'll let it go this time," Nic marched off to be alone.

Jack III waved goodbye to the other two and set off on his important mission to firstly, find out what the threat to the town is, and secondly, find the special thread. He did not want to scare the little creatures by letting them find out their home may be in trouble.

"Now where's he going?" Nac watched him leave.

"Who?" Flak asked.

"Jack,"

"Maybe he's going to apologize to Nic for not letting us read the note?"

"Hmm, maybe we should follow him," Nac was off before Flak had anything else to say about it. They made sure to keep their distance so Jack III would not know he was being followed.

It was not long before Jack III ran into Gina herself, "Hi, Jack! Did you receive the note I left for you?" she asked shyly.

Was this the girl that had left the note on his door? Jack III was not sure, but he thought it had been. He nodded his head.

"Oh, good. So do you happen to know where I can find any of the thread?"

He guessed she was asking if he was willing to help, so he nodded his head once more with a smile.

"You do? Really?!" Gina was getting excited. "Where?"

Jack III had no clue why she was still talking to him. Looking at her body language, which asked _where_, he guessed she wanted to know where he had left the top secret note. He opened his mouth and pointed inside happily.

"You… ate it?" Gina was at a long for words.

Proud of himself, Jack III nodded once more.

"Uh… okay. I don't know why you would do such a thing… perhaps we should get you to a doctor," she suggested.

Jack III stared blankly at her, why was she still talking?

Act 2 

"So Jack was just helping Gina to get some of our special thread?" Nac was astonished. They kept on their trail as they followed the couple on their way to the doctor's office.

"Maybe you and I could make some of it without Nic finding out," Flak smiled.

"I think you're right," Nac agreed. "But first we have to stop the doctor from cutting Jack open…"

Gina and Jack III entered the doctor's office and were greeted by the good doctor herself, "Hello, Gina. What seems to be the matter today?"

"Um, my friend Jack accidentally swallowed some thread," Gina looked much more embarrassed than Jack III did, as he stared up amusingly at the beautiful doctor with a smile on his face.

"Good lord, how on earth did you do that?" the doctor had an exasperated look upon her face as she looked at Jack III.

This woman was obviously not amused that Gina had chosen Jack III to help her on her quest to save the village, and Jack III was now taking great offense to the doctor's harsh looks. Angrily, he stuck out his tongue at her.

"Hmm," the doctor stepped forward, grabbing his tongue in place and leaving him confused and afraid. "It is very dry, and it looks like it has little black spot upon it. Yes, he definitely ate something out of the ordinary today…"

"Do you think we can still get it back?" Gina asked hopefully.

"Yes, there may be a chance. But I'm going to have to give him some laxatives," the doctor walked behind her medicine cabinet a moment. Nac and Flak watched from the windowsill eagerly. "Here we are," she walked back and handed the pills to Jack III. "Take these, sweetie."

The pills were multicolored, a blue and a red one lay in his hand.

_Oh no, _Jack III looked down in horror. _This threat is worse than I could ever have imagined… I'm entering the MATRIX! _He chose to swallow the red pill as Gina and the doctor kept talking amongst themselves.

"How long until he… y'know?" Gina asked.

"Oh, a few hours maybe. I would go home and prepare, boy?" the doctor winked at Jack III.

_I am… THE ONE!_

Gina said her farewell to the doctor and led Jack III out of the office. "You make sure to come get me when the thread is out of your body," she said. "And… wash it first…"

The sprites did not know what laxatives were, but they appreciated that the doctor did not operate on him. It was time for them to get back to their tree and make some of their special thread for Gina.

A few hours later, Jack III was feeling very ill. H spent the rest of the night on the toilet, leaving Gina at home in wonder until sleep finally found her.

It took the sprites a few more days than they had hoped to finish completion of the special thread. Usually they had Nic's help, and he was the fastest maker. They had to hide their craft from him when he was around, making it much harder to find the time to get actual work done on it.

Conclusion 

"I was like, ew! And she was like GAWD! I KNOW!" Dia yapped away.

The village girls were having a small party at Gina's house, celebrating the flower festival that they had been to earlier in the day.

"I really wish our dress had won the competition," Gina pouted.

"It would have if we had found that special thread," Katie groaned.

"Ah well, we did okay anyway," Dia tried to make light of things.

Just then, the doorbell rang and Gina excused herself to go answer it.

"I think we could have saved the village had we gotten the thread we needed in time. I guess whoever made it decided to stop because the town isn't going to be here much longer anymore. Probably moved on to Mineral Town…" Katie decided.

"Yeah, too bad."

Gina reentered the room with an upset look upon her face.

"Who was it, Gina?"

"Jack…" she whimpered.

"What did he want?"

The shy girl held out her hand and began to cry. In her hand was the special thread they had needed a few days earlier.

Jack III walked back to his farm with a big smile upon his face. Happy that he and his two little sprite friends had saved the village from destruction, but very aware that _THE MATRIX HAS YOU…_

_August the 4__th_

_Wee did a gud ting todaa. Wee finishsd maiking r thred 4 jeena and let Jak giv it to hrr. I hop shee poots it 2 gud yoose._

_Flak_

THE END 


	10. Episode X

_**Episode X- **_**Recipe For Disaster**

Mature content contained below….)

Intro 

Jack III walked all by his lonesome on a nice cool day, sensing that the rains were about to make their way into his homely little village in the very near future. The leaves had all become very pretty colors and they fell from their branches to dance in the wind together for all to see. It was a beautiful sight in the sunlight, but today the skies hung gloomily above in a very grey state.

As usual, the little harvest sprites followed their farm boy from afar and again tried conjuring up a new scheme to try and save the village from annihilation. Little did they know that an answer would soon find them in the oddest of ways, as little Katie spotted Jack III from across the way and ran over to meet with him in excitement.

"Hello, Jack!" she called.

Jack III saw her immediately, and began wondering if the girl was still interested in him, for he still found her to be a very attractive young lady. He smiled at her.

"Listen, I an entrepreneur, and I had a thought… Well, actually, something came to my attention that made me think that being an entrepreneur would be an excellent choice for one as independent as myself. Thus, I was inclined to ponder the matter in my mind for a time," this girl babbled one way too much for Jack III, but he decided he'd humor her a little more by pretending he could hear her. "So this ad says that it is looking for a good place to set up a business for selling specially made cakes, where people from all over would come to enjoy the rarity of something so wholesome! There is to be a contest to decide whose cakes are the best in the continent, held right outside of town. The winner gets to help co-run the business and choose the location, and I was thinking perhaps this could save the town!"

The sprites listened in closely to this news.

"Katie is so smart!" Nac mused.

"Shut up, I'm trying to listen," Nic bonked his brother on the head.

Jack III could take no more of her talking, he hugged her tightly, wanting her to know how he felt about her. Perhaps she would feel the same, and they could go back to his farm for some sweet sweet love?

"I knew you'd be happy about this!" Katie smiled as she returned the hug. "But I really suck at cooking, and I need your help,"

Jack III closed his eyes and stroked her hair gently, glad that she felt the same as he and wanting to comfort her, _don't speak, it would ruin this incredible moment._

Katie broke the hug and looked him in the eyes, "Your grandmother's cakes were famous around here, and I was wondering if maybe the recipes were somewhere back at your farm. Maybe the two of us could work as a team in trying to win the contest!" she suggested brightly.

_This is it, _Jack III told himself. _She must be admitting her feelings for me, we should never have stopped being together!_

Flak watched this scene from the sprites' cover, wondering what was going through the deaf boy's mind. "What's he doing?"

"Imagining naughty things," Nic tried to ignore him and listen further.

"So what do you think?" Katie asked.

Jack III saw her bite her lower lip nervously, she must be asking him a very naughty question. The only answer he could give would be yes, so he nodded ferociously.

"Great!" Katie's face lit up with joy as she grabbed his hand and led him quickly back to his farmhouse.

_This girl wants it BAD, _Jack III smiled proudly to himself as he allowed her to lead the way.

Act 1 

Jack III was dying with anticipation as they approached his door, for he had been with this girl before and knew that she was fun to be with in bed. The door opened and Katie walked eagerly inside, pulling the young man behind her. He closed his eyes and perked his lips, ready to receive his kiss that would lead to other nasty deeds. 4 seconds went by, 5, 6… what the hell was taking so long?  
He opened his eyes to discover that Katie was looking around the farm house curiously, obviously in need of finding something.

_This girl wastes no time at all, _he thought happily. _To hell with foreplay, she skips straight to finding condoms!_

"Where could those recipes be?" Katie mumbled to herself as she searched through the cupboards.

_Oh, no! _Jack III realized. _I don't even have any! This is awful! What is she going to think of me when she finds out I'm no player? She'll laugh and probably leave! What am I gonna do? I need a distraction so I can go buy some!_

"Any ideas where they might be?" Katie turned to face him now.

Jack III stood frozen, nervous and afraid of what to do next. He scratched his head as if in deep thought. Perhaps if he pretended like he left them over at another girl's house the night before! Genius! He threw a finger in the air, showing her that he knew where he had left them and promising he would be back in a jiffy. With that, he ran out the door and towards the tools shop.

Katie pondered a moment, "Maybe he's looking in the barn?"

The three sprites sat upon the windowsill and thought hard about where they would find the recipes.

"Think, guys. Where would she have left them?" Nic whispered.

"Maybe they got thrown away after she died?" Nac was not helping matters.

"We need to have a look around the house without Katie seeing us," Nic instructed. "Lets go!"

Meanwhile, Jack III was very out of breath upon arriving at the tool shop. Ronald greeted his customer respectfully and asked what it was he needed.

Jack III needed to think fast. The idea for the action came to him very suddenly, and he knew it just had to work. He made an 'O' sign out of his finger and thumb and held it out to the man.

"Hmm, something small and round… I like charades!" Ronald laughed at the fun of this game.

Jack III had to assume the man was understanding him. He then clenched his hands into fists and put them together, then ripped slowly apart.

"Ah, and stretchy!" Ronald mimicked the actions playfully.

Next, Jack III put his finger and thumb to his mouth and blew very hard, as if blowing a bubble.

"And you can blow it up like a balloon!" Ronald yelled in excitement. "I've got it! It's small and round, not as a balloon though. It's stretchy, but firm if I'm correct. And it can be blown up with your own oxygen… You want BUBBLEGUM!" Ronald rejoiced in his perceptiveness.

Jack III pointed at the man in all happiness, _He gets it! He knows what I need!_

"That was great fun!" Ronald announced. "I have lots of gum back here," he presented a bag of many little packaged gum pieces.

Jack III paid the man and was on his way back to the farm, out of breath as he already was.

Katie did not know what to do. Jack III was taking such a long time to come back, and they needed to make these cakes as fast as possible. The contest was tomorrow evening and not a single one had been made in preparation. They were going to have to make up their own recipes as they went along and hope for the best, but where was Jack?

"Aha!" Nac piped a little bit too loudly as he pulled the famed recipes from the corner of a low cupboard.

"Shhhh!" Nic hushed.

"What the heck was that sound?" Katie looked around. "Jack? Are you back?" she walked over to the door and looked outside. Sure enough, there was the tired out farmer, running at a very slow pace down the hill towards her. "Where the hell were you!?" the outraged girl yelled at him whence he finally got to her and collapsed at her feet in tiredness.

He looked up at her and held out the bag of 'condoms' to her in triumph.

"Hmm, what is this?" she inspected the contents inside wearily. She pulled out a small round piece, packaged in thin paper and cocked an eye at him. "Gum?"

Jack III attempted to pull himself up from the ground as the sprites came running outside to save the poor dumb guy. Katie popped a piece of gum into her mouth and chewed.

"This isn't what I wanted," she said angrily as she turned to head back to the farm.

Jack III stood in his place with his jaw wide open at the moronic thing she had just done. _Perhaps this girl is a bit kinkier than I can handle! _Nevertheless, he followed close behind. As he walked, the sprites had managed to slip by them unnoticed and Nic was now right infront of Jack III. With all his might, Nic kicked his leg, sending him falling over to the ground with a crash as Nic quickly slipped the recipes into Jack's hand.

Katie turned to see what had happened.

"You DO have them afterall! You sneak!"

Act 2 

Jack III sat upon his bed, awaiting his prize with great curiosity.

"Aren't you going to help me bake?" Katie looked at him expectantly.

Unsure of himself now, he sat up again and walked over to her. _Just what the hell does she expect me to do?_

"Okay, it says here we need 4 cups of sugar. Wow! That's a lot!" she exclaimed.

Jack III saw the exasperated look upon her face as she read the recipe, _She's getting these weird ideas from a book? Is she gonna put that on me with her mouth?_

"So where do you keep the sugar?" Katie began looking through the cupboards again.

_Now what are we forgetting?_

She did not find the sugar yet, but she saw a bag of flower and pulled it out, "We'll be needing this too."

_Flower? _Jack III looked down oddly.

"Oh, and eggs!" she opened the refrigerator door and grabbed all they needed.

_Eggs?_

Katie then filled a small cup full of water.

_Water?_

"Now, where could that sugar be?" Katie thought hard as she poured all the contents into a very big bowl.

_Flower, water, eggs… If I didn't know any better, I'd say we were going to make a cake or something… but I do know better, and it is quite clear to see that she intends to show me the human mating process demonstrated with food. What a disgustingly stupid idea, I'm not turned on at all! _Jack III folded his arms and frowned angrily.

"Do you have any vanilla?" Katie asked as she began to mash the ingredients together mercilessly.

Jack III covered his eyes from the graphic demonstration before him, _the horror, the horror!_ He was glad he could not hear her, for she was surely giving a very detailed account of the entire process.

"We can't make this cake if we don't have vanilla, it's a special ingredient, you know."

The three sprites again perched themselves in the windowsill, wondering what exactly was going through Jack's mind as he blocked Katie's mixing from his sight.

"Oh, and I forgot to tell you! I already have a great gimmick for us! We will make each cake swirled in different colors of dye! I brought some with me!" the girl reached into her pocket and pulled out 4 little bottles of colored dye and set them on the table. The first one she decided to add was red.

Jack III uncovered his eyes a little to see what she was up to now, and the instant she dropped a few droplets of red dye into the mixture, he fainted.

"Jack?" Katie panicked. "Oh, no! I didn't even think about the possibility that you would be allergic to dye!" her assumption as wrong as can be. "Oh, I've failed miserably already!"

The poor girl bent down to try and revive her friend from his deepening slumber, but to no avail. She had failed at her first try, but she was determined not to give up and soon began making a new cake from the recipe as Jack III lay unconscious on the floor below and the harvest sprites watched in silence.

Jack III awoke just before the cake was finished being baked in the oven.

"Oh, hi! You're awake!" Katie smiled at him. "I made a new cake without the dye in it. Even the icing is left white," she assured him. "I need some fresh air, wanna pull the cake out of the oven when the timer goes off?"

Jack III looked around the room in a daze, something smelled quite good. With that, Katie was on her way out the door leaving a clueless Jack III alone with a baking cake.

DING!

There was a reason Jack III rarely ever attempted to cook, and this was exactly it._ I wonder when it will be finished… I hope Katie comes back soon._

Katie trusted Jack III more than anyone in the village and knew that the cake would be safe with him. It had been a long day and she needed rest before the big contest tomorrow afternoon. Deciding upon this fact, she poked her head back inside the farmhouse to deliver her message.

"I'm going home to rest a while. I'll stop by your house tomorrow morning and we'll prepare for the contest together. Don't you go eating the thing on me now!"

_There she is! Where's she going now?_

Nac turned to his brothers, "why is there smoke coming out from that oven?"

"Uh oh…" Nic thought.

Conclusion 

The harvest sprites had really saved the day this time. They had managed to pull the cake out before any fire had broken out, although it was very burnt. While Jack III slept that night they had also succeeded in baking a new one by following the recipe's directions exactly. The contest had finally begun, and the sprites watched from their usual hiding places as Jack III and Katie awaited the judges' approval.

"Hello, and who are you two?" a judge came by and asked the village heroes.

"This is Jack, and I'm Katie."

"Nice to meet you. Now let me try some of this cake here," he cut out a spoonful and popped it into his mouth. "Absolutely delicious! This is the most extraordinary tasting cake I have ever had in my life!"

"Oh, I'm so glad!" Katie said giddily.

"I guess that is all the cake that needs to be tasted," the judge announced to the busy crowds. "I'm pleased to award Katie and Jack's delicious cake…"

"We saved the village!" Katie whispered happily to Jack III.

"Runner up!" the judge finished.

"WHAT!" Katie squealed.

"I'm sorry, it really was delicious… but it lacks color, its boring. Not like this rainbow cake over here from our Mineral Town contestants! First prize for their incredible insight into marketing gimmicks!" the judge announced.

"Rrrrrgh!" Katie stormed off without another word to her partner.

_This girl loves to walk away and forget about me, _Jack III grew annoyed. The sprites watched with incredulous looks upon their faces… perhaps they should have ignored those who are deathly allergic to dyed foods just this once.

_Spring the 16__th_

_Time is running out for us, the year is almost up! Winter is just around the corner and then they plan to destroy the village… I can't afford to move right now, and seek a new goddess master… that's tough to find, and I doubt the one from Mineral Town would be very accepting of us at the moment. Crap._

_Nic._

THE END 

(Sorry it's been a while, work is taking over my life once more on account of me needing to earn a butt load of tuition money for University again. On the plus side, HMTV is now officially a year old! Keep checking back for more updates, only five episodes of the season remain!)


	11. Episode XI

_**Episode XI- **_**THE MACHINE**

Intro

_Indeed, I seem to think I have found a solution to our problem, _the harvest goddess told her enslaved sprite followers. It was a cool Autumn day, and the winds blew the leaves all around the forest with incredible force.

"Please don't banish us to the netherworlds!" Nic begged on behalf of his brothers. "I swear it won't solve anything!"

_Oh, quit your yammering! _the goddess snapped. _I mean I have uncovered an ancient relic from my dimension that will help us in our mission to save the homeland!_

"Y…you have?" the sprites were puzzled.

_All this time we've been waiting for our savior to bring us to glory, yet we have done nothing to help him on his journey, _she was speaking, of course, about Jack III.

"Speak for yourself," Nac whispered angrily under his breath.

_What was that, Nac?_

"Nothing, your fantabulousness!"

_That's what I thought. Now, this machine, if used correctly, should help to magically correct our problem of understanding him._

The sprites looked at their employer in sheer awe.

"That sounds fantastic," Nic said with half enthusiasm. "But I have to wonder, how will he understand what we're saying? It isn't like he has ever learned how to speak a language…"

_Yes, and this machine once again provides a solution. It is enchanted with a special item that temporarily allows us to hear his thoughts. That is, assuming that he hasn't been deaf since birth, his thoughts should come out crystal clear._

The sprites brightened even more at this.

_I must warn you though, the machine is very old and very sacred. You must be sure that it is used correctly the first time, for it may only be used every one hundred years. The magic will only work for about a day, so you must make sure that Jack is quick in his actions._

"What happens if we use it more than once before one hundred years is up?" Nac wondered aloud.

_If that were to happen, I assume it would destroy the person you used it on and anyone around it. But I could be very wrong, perhaps something far more dangerous would occur._

The sprites gulped in unison. It was then that the harvest goddess left them alone to test their machine.

"Great, now we just need a new plan," Nic stated the obvious.

"Maybe Jack has a plan…" Flak suggested.

"No, I don't want to test it until we come up with one or we'll have wasted our only day."

"Well, you never know what kind of ideas could be swimming around in Jack's head… maybe he does have something useful," Nac cowered a little, expecting to be hit by his elder brother for this.

"I…hmm," Nic thought a moment. "I suppose you're right, we are quickly running out of time. We'll go see what we can get out of him."

And so, the little sprites ventured off to the farm to, for the first time, gain insight into the mind of their savior.

_**Act 1**_

Jack III was plucking tomatoes when the sprites arrived on the scene. He hadn't noticed them when they readied the little device and aimed it at him ever so silently.

"Here goes nothing," Nic unleashed the transmitting power with the push of a button.

A few moments went by. Then a few more. Then Nic got mad.

"Hey! Turn around!" Nic kicked Jack III's leg as hard as he could. It didn't hurt, but it did manage to get his attention.

"_Ah, bonjour, mes amis!"_

"DAMNIT!" Nic yelled.

"_Ca va?"_

"Damnit, damnit, damnit, damnit!" Nic jumped up and down furiously."

"_Que'est que cais la probleme_?" Jack III looked down in concern.

"Any idea what he's saying?" Nac looked at his brother hopefully.

"I understood 'problem'… I think."

"Did we use it correctly?" Flak wondered.

"We did, we just never expected him to speak a different language!"

The sprites understood immediately the impossibility of their situation, and that in bring the problem to the attention of the goddess, they were surely to be blamed for the predicament.

"Alright, we need to think long and hard about this," Nic tried to calm himself. "What language is he using?"

"Mexican?" Nac guessed.

"Is that even a language?" Flak pondered.

"No!" Nic bonked them both on the heads.

"_Ahahaha, j'aime beaucoup mes petites amis!"_

"Damnit, will you just stop thinking!?" Nic yelled at the deaf man. "We need to figure out what language that is and then somehow find a way to translate it."

"In one day? It's hopeless!" Flak cried.

"Shut up and think! Okay, now… what was the first thing he said in his mind?" Nic thought.

"Bone Joor!" Nac remembered this well.

"Alright, we need to find out what language that is… I'm pretty sure it is a way of greeting, so it should be easy to start at that. To the library!"

"They closed it down years ago," Flak reminded him.

"Well I… wait, what happened to all the books?" Nic cocked an eyebrow.

"Tony has them! They're right here somewhere on the farm!" Nac was overjoyed at this quick turn of events.

The sprites went right to work looking through all the books they could find in the basement of the farmhouse. It took them a while, but they finally came across a box of dictionaries, and found that the word 'Bonjour' was 'Good Day' in French.

"Well, we've wasted 2 hours, but now at least we can try and look up the words that come to his mind," Nic announced to the group. Unfortunately , when they went outside to find Jack III, he was nowhere to be found.

"_Formidable!" _the little device sounded.

"He's close!" they ran quickly to the old sheep pen where Jack III was amusing himself with his little dog. It appeared that they were playing Frisbee together.

"_Ah, je suis fatigue,"_ the device made it sound like he was almost out of breath.

"Quick! Fat Ee Gay! Look that up!" Nac bounced up and down.

"… I think it's like the English 'fatigue', meaning tired…" Nic and his brothers watched as Jack III headed inside the house. "This couldn't get any worse. You guys try and stop him from sleeping, I'm going to go and fess up to the harvest goddess," with that, Nic was on his way.

Nac and Flak jumped through the window of Jack III's bedroom and caught him in the act of getting into bed. They waved and jumped like idiots in an attempt to get his attention, but he had not yet noticed them.

"_Geez, I love being bilingual, but thinking in French all day is getting pretty hard. Maybe I should try it out on Saturdays AND Sundays instead of just Saturdays now so I don't forget it completely."_

Nac and Flak looked at each other in surprise.

"I didn't understand the word 'bilingual', but I definitely know the rest of those words!" Flak said.

"He's Canadian! I should have guessed!" Nac became very happy at this revelation. Running to the kitchen, he quickly found a pen and paper and began writing a message. When he finished he ran back into Jack III's room and presented it to him.

_**Jack, it is very important that you think in English today. We have been granted the power to read your thoughts, and we need your help to save the village from destruction!**_

"_Impossible! I already did that when I found that special thread!"_

Both sprites shook their heads sadly.

"_So… you both know that I'm a closet Red Wings fan?"_

The sprites both gasped. This was, indeed, terrible news.

"Nic can never find out about this, he'll lose all faith in Jack completely!" Nac shook in disgust.

"_Damn, I just love how they hit, hit, hit! Injuring people is the only way to win a hockey game, you know?"_

"I can't even look at him anymore!" Nac ran from the room. Flak began to cry.

"_Oh no! Maybe I should have kept my mind shut about that… Jeez, I wonder what else they know about me… this is such an invasion of privacy."_

_**Act 2**_

Nic returned to the farm a little bit banged up, as the goddess had dealt him a hard couple of lightning bolts for his failures.

"What has you two looking so down?" Nic asked his poor, upset brothers.

"Oh, it… it doesn't matter…" Nac sniffed.

"_Hey, you guys! I think I have a few ideas about how we can save the village!" _Jack III ran outside to join the sprites.

"You got him to think in English!? Amazing!" Nic was overjoyed.

"_Okay, so the girls here are really easy. Why not just get them to sleep with the guys in charge?"_

The sprites shook their heads no.

"_Whore house?"_

No.

"_Porn videos!"_

No.

"_Can you guys get a hold of my parents for me? I really need them to come and take me home."_

All three sprites gave Jack III the finger.

_Aw, you guys are just pissed because of that Red Wings thing!"_

"What Red Wings thing?" Nic looked at Nac and Flak.

"Uh… his cousin used to play for them," Nac lied.

"(GASP) That unholy bastard!" Nic looked sickly.

"I know, it's the kind of thing that would break your family apart," Flak sulked.

"Alright, so now we know that Jack is useless to us for ideas. Now what do we do?" Nic seemed to be talking more to himself than the other sprites.

"_Fine but if I help you guys you really have to call my parents. What if we used the goddess pond as some sort of an attraction?"_

The sprites froze. Could that really work? Could they get the humans to capture the goddess and exploit her pond for all it was worth?

"We would be free from her control for the first time in our lives…" Nic whispered. Gallantly, he looked Jack III in the eyes and smiled. With a simple nod, the deal was done.

"_I'll write a letter to the amusement park committee immediately!" _Jack III smiled at the dangerous game they were about to play.

"Only a bloody Red Wings fan…" Nac said incredulously.

_**Conclusion**_

Jack III's plan, surprisingly, was brilliant. Two days later, the fair officials arrived at the pond, optimistically hoping for an attraction way more thrilling to offer visitors than an amusement park. The goddess pond would become their property, but in exchange, the town would be able to keep living in the village for as long as they wanted. Tranquilizer dart guns all pointed at the pond now, as there were twenty men on sight for the expedition.

Carefully, Jack III stood back as he threw an offering into the pond. The harvest goddess arose from the shallow depths of the pond, too slow to retreat from the trap they had laid for her.

_No! You, you cannot do this! _she screamed as the darts hit their target. _Nic, Nac, Flak! What have you done!? Without me, the village is…_ she was now fast asleep.

"We did it!" Nic rejoiced with the sprites in the bushes.

"No more bending to her every will!" Nac squealed gaily.

"I can eat whatever I want now!" Flak teared up.

Jack III was also happy now, because tomorrow, the sprites promised to call his folks and tell them he needed to be taken home.

When the rest of the town had heard what Jack III had done, they crowded around him and cheered for him. He was a hero, afterall! He had achieved what no one ever thought possible, and now the town would stay put.

Now, this would make a wonderful end to this story. Everyone gets what they want (except the harvest goddess), and they could all live happily ever after. Unfortunately, things would soon get much worse than they had ever been before, and Jack III's adventures in the village would take a fast turn for the worst!

_Autumn the 20__th_

_Well, all is well that ends well. It's really too bad that Jack III will be going home now though, he really pulled through for us in the end!_

_Nac._

**THE END**

(Words cannot express how sorry I am for abandoning this story for so long. My final year of university needed my complete focus, however, and HMTV went on the backburner. Rest assured, I am back! And for all those who have stuck around, I will be bringing a fan favorite back for next episode by popular demand! Keep reading!)


	12. Episode XII

_**Episode XII- **_** HELL ON EARTH (Part 1)**

Intro

It was the very next day, and construction workers had already began to work away at what would soon become the greatest amusement park in history. The captured Harvest Goddess lazed around in her cage and watched as the people passed by, unable to escape her prison no matter how much magic she used. Steel bars were a little out of her area of expertise.

HAHAHAHAHA! A voice arose from the pond and out came the evil twin sister Goddess from Mineral town. The workers stopped dead in their tracks, staring in awe of her beauty, and then running for their lives as she lunged at her first victim. Holding a man by the throat, she squealed in delight, If any of you ever return, you shall share his fate!. The man disappeared into thin air.

Wonderful… the caged Harvest Goddess moaned.

Ohohohoh, sister, you are really just too much! the evil goddess laughed uncontrollably. Betrayed by the villagers you've sworn to protect, really! I don't think I've ever been so amused in my entire existence!

Oh, do shut up,

Ahahaha! And now the Village is mine! Mine to do with as I please! And no, I do not feel as though I will be friendly to these villagers. I feel they are inferior to those I am bound to protect, and I shall prove it by destroying this place!

Fine, the captured goddess resolved. Do as you must, just let me out of here. I made the mistake of trusting these people, and I was wrong. I admit it. Please, just let me out of here so I can move on to the underworld where I belong.

Hmm, the evil goddess considered the proposition carefully. No, I'd rather watch you suffer. You did, afterall, attempt to lock me away in the underworld forever. It is only fair, dear sister, that I am allowed the same chance, she smiled ruefully.

LET ME OUT!

Ohohohohoh! Never! We could have had lots of fun together, destroying this place, but now the glory shall be mine and mine alone, with a wave of her hand, the evil goddess raised the inhabitants of the underworld from the pond. One by one, vile and wretched creatures arose from its depths and were welcomed into their new home, and beautiful place that would soon become a place of misery and destruction. Go, my pets, and wreak havoc upon these people and their land! The time has come for us to have some fun!

Yes, my dear friends, as it turns out, the goddesses come from a world that is quite unlike our own. As a birth right, the goddesses are granted above ground lands in which they are bound to protect, but if they gain access to another goddess' lands, they are free to do whatever they want with it. Unfortunately for the Village citizens, Mineral Town's goddess has been just dying to wreak hell on earth for years and years. In fact, it all began with Jack III's ancestor, the one who drove her completely mad… but that is a different story altogether. The important thing that you must know, is that from this point on, the people of the Village were doomed.

_**Act 1**_

"Okay, okay, okay! We'll call your parents as we promised and ask them if they will come to bring you home," Nic gave in to the frowny-faced boy holding the telephone in front of him. Jack III, of course, could not understand him, and was growing quite impatient with the sprites.

"Remember to speak really loudly so they can hear you," Nac instructed his older brother.

"I KNOW! I'm not a dimwit like you two bozos."

"I'm not a bozo…" Flak toyed with the concept.

"Alright," Nic climbed up on the counter and readied himself for the call. Jack III began to dial the number when Nic saw something quite peculiar out the window. "Is there a fire in the sky?" the sprites ran to the window to get a closer glimpse. Frankly, this pissed Jack III off, and he threw the telephone at Nac, knocking him unconscious.

"Are those monsters heading towards us?" Flak began to panic.

"What in hell could have…" Nic's mind began to race. "The Harvest Goddess of Mineral Town! With our goddess incapacitated, she must have claimed rule to the entranceway!"

"What do we do!?" Flak began to shake uncontrollably.

"The only thing we can do, Flak. RUN!" the two sprites ran screaming out of the house in a panic, leaving both Nac and Jack III alone in the house.

Curious now, Jack III walked to the window and peered out to see what all the commotion was about. Trolls, and zombies, orcs, and monsters, leviathans, and many other deranged creatures could be seen heading his way. The skies burned in orangey-red fires, and black clouds forged close behind them.

_Oh, I see. The sprites were just excited to see some old friends come into town, _Jack III surmised. He decided that he should also go outside and meet them.

Upon seeing him, the monsters became very angry and focused their attention on the single, solitary figure in the distance.

Jack III stopped a safe distance away from his visitors and looked around for Nic and Flak, but there was no sight of either of them. Could these nasty creatures have eaten his poor friends?

"Booga booga" a crazed old woman jumped ahead of the monster brigade. It was quite evident to Jack III by the look in her eyes that this lady was insane. "Halt!" she called to her followers. They did as she instructed. She slowly and calmly walked up to the youth and inspected him from head to toe. "Big… brother?" she cocked an eyebrow at him.

Jack III grinned stupidly.

"Big brother!" the old woman rejoiced and jumped into his arms.

Jack III was quite confused by her actions, but it was quite apparent to him that this crazy old lady was intent on marrying him. This was awkward, to say the least.

"I had to go to the underworld and got monsters and stuff and now I can control fires and I kept telling the harvest goddess let big brother come down and she said no and then I asked her again and she said no again and then again and again and I told her someday I'd find you and bring you and she said no I woudn't and then I said yes I would and then nothing happened for a long time but now I found you and…" the old woman rambled on, unaware that the lucky boy had been deaf.

_She is very excited to see me… Vile women and their damned biological tickers, _he thought to himself.

"And now I hafta take you and show you to her so she knows I'm right and she's wrong so I can take over the underworld 'cause she isn't allowed to be wrong like that!" she huffed and puffed to gain back some air. "Let's go!" she led him by the hand through the crowd of scary creatures and began the trek back to the Harvest pond.

Nic and Flak had been watching the scene unfold from the bushes.

"Jack's related to that devil queen?" Flak asked incredulously.

"Are you really that surprised?" Nic retorted. "I wonder where Nac went…"

"Does this mean we have to free the Harvest Goddess again?" Flak's question would go unanswered.

"Say, what do you think about moving to ForgetMeNot Valley?" Nic contemplated.

"Nic!" Flak was growing more agitated.

"Well, why don't you start coming up with ideas?"

"I wanna save Jack!" Flak whined.

"Save Jack from who?" Nac appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, dazed and confused.

"Where the hell were you?" Nic demanded.

"Um… inside? What happened?"

"The evil Harvest goddess has brought about the apocalypse…"

Nac thought about this for a moment, "I really did hit my head hard."

_**Act 2**_

"Hago! Hey, Hago!" the old woman yelled when the monster army had reached the goddess pond.

Jill, quit calling me that. Taking the first two letters of my names and putting them together does not make you clever! the goddess grunted in annoyance.

"Huh?" Jill blinked in confusion. "You're a hag. 'O'".

Shut up you little twerp! Go wreak havoc with your mongrels! I don't have time for you, I'm planning a worldwide apocalypse.

"I got Jackie backie!" Jill jumped for joy.

You WHAT?! the goddess panicked momentarily. She had known 'Jack' as Jill's grandfather, and she had banished him from the underworld forever. The very name made her cringe in disgust.

"See?!" Jill presented the deaf boy happily.

The goddess looked him over, breathing a sigh of relief as she did so. Ah, you are referring to your long dead brother. That is not him.

"It is so!" Jill stomped angrily.

No, you wretched beast. That is your brother's great grandchild, or so I would presume. He does resemble him quite a bit.

YOU! the caged Harvest goddess suddenly yelled from her prison. All eyes turned to her, except for Jack III, who had heard nothing. You did this! You brought this misery upon these people! It's all your fault, you deaf little son of a…

This boy? You mean to tell me that he is the reason you're locked up in that horrible jail? the evil goddess laughed. And deaf, you say? My, my, he is looking tastier by the moment, isn't he? I'll never understand how such a dreadful line could produce one so well put together and… well, perfect, she smiled.

This woman was extremely beautiful, Jack III reflected, He would much rather she jumped into his arms than this ugly old psycho woman.

"Hsssss!' Jill hissed in warning at the goddess.

Oh, do quit being so overdramatic, Jill, the goddess sighed. I could very well banish you to the dungeons below for eternity!

"Echo, echo, echo,echo!" Jill practiced for her punishment.

You are impossible! the goddess raged.

Jack III watched the scene before him unfold, but could not decipher anything that was happening. It would seem that this nice woman had taken over the town and unleashed the forces of hell, but that could not be accurate. She was too pretty for that.

Wouldn't it be just fabulous if I took the savior of the town as my king? It's so ironic I could just die! Of course he'd have to watch past loves and friends burn eternally in hell, but I'm sure he'd soon get over it… the goddess thought.

Ugh, you deserve each other, the caged goddess spat.

Well it's more than you deserve, dear. Jill, I want you to organize a wedding. I shall take my king of the underworld, and we shall live happily ever after in a world of fire and darkness and death. And I suppose when it is all over I will allow you to go to the kingdom in the clouds.

"Is that where REAL big brother is?"

Purgatory, most likely. He was kind of a dick. But who knows, it has been quite a while. Chop chop! I want this wedding soon!

Jack III watched as the crowd swarmed about. No one seemed sure of what they were doing or where they were going, but they seemed very serious about what needed to be done.

Come to me, my darling, the goddess held out her hand to Jack III.

Smiling, the youth walked right into her evil embrace and she kissed him deeply.

"Stop right this instant!" a peeping voice could be heard. It was Nic, Nac, and Flak, and they had come to face the nightmare queen face to face.

Are these your worthless sidekicks? the evil goddess asked her imprisoned sister.

No, she shied away sheepishly.

Lucky for them, I suppose, the evil woman snapped her fingers and the sprites turned to stone.

Jack III stared at the awful thing that had just happened, and he knew now that the fate of the world now rested on his frail and bony shoulders.

_To be continued…._

(Rrrrgh, school has been killing me. It just seems to be getting worse and worse. Maybe I can get this done over the holidays, I'll have a month off in the coming weeks so I intend to work on this and the HMTV video game. Cheers,)


	13. Episode XIII

_**Episode XIII- **_** HELL ON EARTH (Part 2)**

Intro

Many years ago…

"Land ho!" Jill cried as her great ship sailed through the stormiest of nights. The waves knocked the boat back and forth as if it were lighter than air, and with each tide the old woman was almost knocked from her post at the wheel.

"Quit saying that! There's no land for miles! Can't you see that we're doomed?!" a odd little harvest sprite shouted from inside her hood.

"Ahahahahaha! Shimmer-me-timbers!"

"You're crazy, you know that? Absolutely out of your mind!" the sprite pestered. His name was Dandy, and he had been tasked many years ago to look after the crazed woman so that neither the kingdom in the sky or the underworld would have to suffer her wrath. However, at this very moment, and many times before, poor Dandy was powerless to stop this out of control being.

"Aye, matey!" Jill laughed hysterically.

"You've screwed things up for us before, but never like this! There's no escaping this one, girl, not in a million…"

"You're annoying," Jill grabbed the critter from her hood and threw him overboard.

"Waaaaahhhh!"

"Hehehehe, now you're funny!" Jill held her ground against the heavy waves. "Gonna find big brother at the end of the world, that's where they say we go when we die, and so that's where I'ma lookin' for 'im" the poor old woman had lost her mind, whatever small portion of one she had been born with, that is. Just then, the most gigantic wave built up before her eyes and swept the ship up underneath. As the tide came crashing down upon her, Jill began to wonder if maybe she should begin writing a book of all her adventures. Sure, people would love to read that!

In the next moment she was staring face to face with the Harvest Goddess of Mineral Town.

Oh, you've got to be kidding me, the goddess felt the weight of the world fall onto her shoulders.

"Say, lass, ye not be seein' me older sibling, would ye?" Jill clamped one eye shut with seemingly great difficulty.

Alright, time to send you to the torturing zone, the goddess sighed.

"Scurrrrvy dog, she be!" the old woman barked.

Oh, those poor torturers… maybe I should reconsider…

"Aye!"

Perhaps if I gave you your own chamber and allowed you to drive new arrivals out of their skin… Oh, what an excellent idea! the goddess brightened up at once.

"O'roit, guv'na!" Jill changed her accent without noticing. "Shay's a bloadie genius, f'sho!"

I already feel sorry for them…

_**Part 1**_

Jack III found himself locked in a room with some of the most hideous looking creatures he had ever seen. The trolls prepared a suit for him, while the orcs experimented with makeup kits and the demons guarded the doors. He knew he had to find a way to save his poor little friends who had been turned into stone, but he also wanted to sleep with the beautiful lady who had done it to them.

A knock at the door alerted the demons, and they steadied themselves for the worst. Upon opening the door, Jill made a thrilling entrance by setting them on fire. "Booga!" she laughed as she watched them run around burning.

Jack III was frightened by this old woman, for he had no idea who she was or what she was going to do to the poor villagers.

"Hmm," she studied him a moment. "No, the goddess is wrong. You are my brother, Jackie. I think I'm going to release you," she thought long and hard as she stared awkwardly at him. This made Jack III quite uncomfortable. "Yes, I will release you and we will run away together and marry kittens. We'll name them George and Emily, and then Emily makes you very angry, so you cut off her head. And then you'll marry sea monster. I know of one with a very large bum. You can marry her so that I'll still be the prettiest one in the family," she smiled at her beautifully woven fairytale. "Don't have children though, she eats those."

Jack III turned to stare at the demons who were now lying dead on the floor. What happened to creatures that died when they were already dead to begin with?

"HEY!" Jill slapped him hard in the face. "Pay attention! I'm giving you some good tips here."

Jack III stared at the open door and realized this was his only chance to escape. He counted to three in his head very slowly, trying not to take his eyes off this old woman and arouse her suspicions. When he reached three, and sprang into action and pushed her to the wall as he made his escape.

Jill laughed hysterically.

Jack III emerged from the little house he'd been held captive in and sprinted for the forest. He did not stop running until he was a safe distance in, and then he continued to walk deep into the darkness of his newfound safe haven. By absence of luck, he came out of the trees right in the middle of the park, very close to the goddess' abode. It occurred to him, however, that he would need to sneak past her defenses and retrieve his friends anyway. All way quiet and dark, and there were not yet any signs of life around him. He crept as quietly as he could, although he was unable to hear any sounds even if he were making any.

At the pond, he could see the evil goddess looking inside of the small cage her sister was locked in, taunting her.

You know, sister, it's all for the best. I will soon cast the world in darkness, and Mineral town will be the only safe and beautiful place in the world. No longer will people take for granted nature and all its offerings, and only the most wonderful and extraordinary beings will be able to enter its protective walls, the goddess explained.

You really have lost your mind, her sister complained.

I'm just excited is all. Between the two of us, I have emerged as the superior goddess, I'm getting married, and I'm about to wage war on all humanity. And I shall win, of course.

Jack III of course could not hear any of this, and he assumed that the evil goddess was a lesbian for having caged the poor harvest goddess up for her own pleasure and entertainment. It made him extremely angry that he could not stick around and enjoy the show, but he had a mission to complete. He got down on his hands and knees and crawled in the darkness on the far side of the park. The evil goddess had extremely good hearing, however, and noticed him right away.

Is that my fiancée? she began to walk in his direction. It is, that foolish boy! she watched him continue to crawl forward, unaware of her presence. Just what is it you are trying to do? she walked alongside the boy as he crawled. Are you trying to escape? Is that it? No, it couldn't be. You're headed in the wrong direction for that, and of course, I am too pretty for that to ever happen.

It was then that Jack III felt someone's eyes upon him. He stopped dead in his tracks, then began to turn his head sideways. The evil goddess waved her hand at him, an discouraging look upon her face. _Damn, and I was so close! _He could see the three stone statues up ahead of him, all he could do now was make a run for it. He jumped up suddenly and sprinted for the stoned sprites.

Why are you running from me? I've been nothing but nice to you, the evil goddess walked after him, knowing he could never successfully escape her clutches.

Jack III had made it to his friends safely, but was unsure how to go about carrying all three of them to safety. He tried picking them all up at once. It was difficult, but he managed to lift them all up, taking all the strength he had. The hard part was trying to run away with them.

Oh, I see, you just want your friends back. Careful, you don't want to drop them,

Plop!

One of the statues slipped from his grasp and broke in two on the ground. It was Nic!

_Uh oh… _Jack III stared down at the broken sprite.

I warned you, the goddess sighed. Well I can't fix him, but if it will make you happy I can change by the others, with a snap of her fingers the two other sprites came back to life in his arms.

_Aha! The key to breaking the curse was in sacrificing one of their lives! It was a cruel fate, but this brave little elf did not die needlessly, _Jack III smiled at his accomplishment.

"Ahhhhh!" Nac screamed at the broken form of his brother on the ground.

"What happened?" Flak blinked in confusion.

Jack III picked the broken body up and began to run once again, _I'm going to glue him back together and give him to my parents as a gift!_

Hey! Wait! Why are you running away again? the evil goddess called after him.

_**Part 2**_

The harvest sprites stared in confusion as the evil goddess tore after her fiancée.

"What'll we do without Nic?" Flak whined.

"We have to set the harvest goddess free while we have the chance," Nac resolved. It was their only hope of saving the town now.

They ran as quickly as they could over to the prison that held their master.

Do you see now what you have done? the goddess said solemnly.

"It was Jack's idea! All of it! Honest!" Nac bit his lip anxiously.

"And now Nic is a statue forever," Flak cried.

Well you may set me free if you want, but I am powerless to stop her now that she has breached my portal.

"You mean there's nothing you can do at all?" Nac squealed.

No, her magic has always been far better than my own. Unless… she thought to herself a moment. Unless I can use the portal to Mineral town and take over as sorceress of that area…

"But… then we would be left to serve her instead of you?" Nac tried to piece everything together.

I'm afraid so.

"But everything would be back to normal, right?" Flak asked hopefully.

Yes, she would have to comply with her duties and protect the town she guards, the three of them pondered this a while. It was quite apparent that they had no other choice, and so the sprites set her free with the key they found a short distance from her. The goddess then left them to enter the pond and descended deep into the depths of the underworld.

"What do we do now?" Flak sat down in disbelief.

"All we can do now is wait," Nac said.

Jack III had reached his farm and immediately began looking for some super glue. He had completely forgotten about his pursuer now, and was very excited at the thought of giving his parents such a nice gift. It had not occurred to him that the darkness of the underworld would soon spread to the rest of the world, and he was pretty sure that the goddess had lost interest in imprisoning him. She was, afterall, a lesbian, and would not be requiring his 'services' anytime soon.

_Drats,_ he realized there was no glue left in the house. The evil goddess entered the premises just as he angrily kicked the door squarely in her face. He had not noticed her presence, and therefore, did not see her fall back unconscious. _Maybe all I need is the top half… _he contemplated.

It then occurred to the youth that he required the services of the harvest sprites to call his parents. Those buggers had promised to do it earlier, but never did. Lying was a terrible thing, it was just such a shame that one of them had to die to pay for their mistakes.

Katie arrived on the scene just then, crying and scared. She saw the unconscious goddess in the doorway and carefully stepped over her body. "Jack! Thank heavens you're okay!" she surprised him with a warm embrace.

_Wow, I was kinda hoping to leave before having to break things off with this girl, _Jack III awkwardly patted her on the back.

"I was so scared! The monsters have rounded everyone in the village up at town square! I thought I was the only one who escaped with my life!" she cried into his chest.

_Damn, how did she find out I was skipping town? I knew she'd be upset but this is just ridiculous!_

"Jack, we have to save them!" Katie looked into his eyes.

Jack III thought long and hard, he was at a loss for what to do. He had never really broken a girl's heart before, and he was feeling very uncomfortable at the moment. With a sigh of frustration, he grabbed the top portion of Nic's stone body from the kitchen counter and presented it to her. _Something to remember me by._

"That's all you have for a weapon? Don't you have a big sickle, or some steak knives?"

_What a greedy little whore, _Jack III threw the stone away angrily. It shattered into three smaller pieces upon hitting the ground, but he did not seem to notice.

"Fine, fine! Don't be upset, if lawn gnomes are what kept you alive up to this point then who am I to say otherwise?" Katie walked to the kitchen counter and grabbed Nic's bottom half. "Let's go," she headed out the door, stepping over the evil goddess.

_I should have known she would want the lower portion, _it all made sense to Jack III now. Something to remember him by, indeed.

_Too be continued…_

(Aha! Two episodes finished in two days! Can you tell I'm anxious for the end of my school term? Anyways, I killed off Nic. Hope no one's too pissed about it :P )


	14. Author's Note

No, I'm not dead. I went through a buttload of school, found other interests, etc… and totally forgot about this series yet again.

I can't believe it's been 6 years since I started these… I can't believe I left it with two chapters hanging either. I wanted to at least finish off the third series. Anyways, it will end, I promise. It's just going to take me some time to re-read everything and play catch up.

On that note though, six years is a long time. In that time, I graduated with a B.A. (double major) in English Literature and Political Science, a Masters degree in Library and Information Sciences, and most recently a Human Resources grad cert. Needless to say, my writing has improved a lot, and I've been exploring different routes for my creativity.

Due to my improved writing abilities, I look back at these HMTV stories (albeit with a sense of nostalgia), and I can't help but be bothered by the shortcomings. It is because of this that I am going to edit each episode from the first series onwards in an attempt to improve the overall storytelling, and to give the jokes an extra bite.

This was my first outing into comedy, and I can't help but have an appreciation for it after all these years. I had bigger plans for it, and although they fizzled out as I became busy with life, there's no reason I can't revisit it now. I was tempted at one point to rewrite these stories as original works instead of fanfics, but there isn't much point. I have my own original comedic works now, and so I don't need these stories to be any more than what they are.

I realize that I've probably lost all of my readers by this point, which is another reason that I'll be editing the old stories before continuing onward. It's my attempt to reach new readers, and it is my hope that I'll be able to reconnect with some old ones as well.

So, what does the future hold for this particular fic? I can't say for certain, except that season 3 will definitely be finished. There are so many iterations of the HM series now that I can't possibly hope to keep up, and I admittedly lost interest in them after Magical Melody. If there is a season 4, it will be based on A Wonderful Life and will most likely see an episode cutback. At one point I was making a game adaptation of HMTV and then I lost it in a computer crash… but if anyone wants to see my new (completed) comedic RPG, go to and search for Fragile Hearts. It's an evolution of my comedic writing, and I'm really quite proud of it (it's also free to download, with 2 sequels on the way). That's where most of my creativity has been spent these last 3 years.


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